Canada‐United States interregional trade: quasi‐points and spatial change

Interregional trade between Canada and the United States has undergone significant change since the inception of free trade. However, the magnitude of that change for the different regions in Canada and the United States has not been properly identified because of a lack of an appropriate measure. This paper introduces the concept of a quasi‐point and employs a spatial point pattern test to measure the degree of change in the interregional trade of Canadian provinces and US states, with an emphasis of that change on Ontario. It is found that the degree of change in the interregional trade flows is related to the degree of change in the provincial tariff rates.     

时控恒流量采样器的研制

针对目前国产小型采样器 2 4小时采样 ,因连续在博物馆陈列室等处用电存在的不安全性、采样位置受电源位置限制以及流量控制不稳的缺陷 ,根据博物馆实际检测采样的特殊需要 ,自行研制了小型时控恒流量采样器。采样器主要有定时控制、电机控制、电源检测、模式开关和气泵等部分组成。通过电路的特殊设计 ,采取间隙式采样模式以保证连续采样无需外接电源 ,解决电池供电随着使用时间的增加电压下降可能引起采样流量变化的问题。通过电路中稳速系统设计 ,使采样器工作在一确定的电压之上 ,保证电机转速稳定 ,使采样流量不受采样管阻力影响 ,从而保证采样精度。采样器经半年多实际应用最大相对误差为 2 .5 %。能满足博物馆实际检测采样要求。     

拨子商与近代东蒙的商业圈和物流

本文以拨子商的活动为中心分析近代东蒙的商业圈和物流。拨子商出现于清中叶,拨子商的基地城市位于农牧交错带上。由于清中叶以后农业的北扩,这批基地城市也步步北移。从南到北,货流从边缘城市到牧区,甚至到外蒙。主要的运输动力是骆驼和牛,赶骆驼需要很高的技术。从北到南的主要物流是畜群,特别是羊群。羊群的行走可达8000里。拨子商兴起使得蒙古和内地的社会经济都发生了改变。     

The production technology of Egyptian blue and green frits from second millennium BC Egypt and Mesopotamia

The microstructures and chemical compositions of some 55 Egyptian blue and green frit samples from New Kingdom Egypt and 15th century BC Mesopotamia are determined using analytical scanning electron microscopy, the main focus being on frit cakes, powder residues, and frit vessel and bead fragments from one of the “factory areas” at Amarna in Middle Egypt. Replicate Egyptian blue frits produced in the laboratory are similarly investigated. Comparison of the microstructures of the ancient and replicate samples suggest that frit cakes are the primary product, and that these were ground to produce the powder, and then moulded to shape and refired to produce the vessels and beads. Egyptian blue and green frits are shown to be distinct pigments, the pigment produced depending on the relative proportions of copper oxide and lime in the mixtures. The bulk and glass phase compositions are used to try to infer the different sources of the quartz, lime, copper and alkali flux used in the production of frits from Egypt and Mesopotamia. An estimate is made of the scale of production of Egyptian blue frit in New Kingdom Egypt.     

湖北宜昌万福垴遗址出土费昂斯珠科技分析与研究

湖北宜昌万福垴遗址是西周中晚期至春秋时期的以楚文化为主的遗存,以该遗址M8出土的费昂斯(faience)珠为研究对象,以期通过分析其成分和结构特征并讨论其工艺特征,丰富对长江中下游地区该时期费昂斯的相关认识。本研究使用扫描电子显微镜,分析结果显示费昂斯制品以富钾费昂斯及混合碱费昂斯为主。再依据以往发表的西周时期费昂斯制品的科技研究,结合考古发掘相关材料,试图从费昂斯器物使用方式的角度,窥视其在古人精神文明进程中的角色,反观费昂斯在中原地区的发展脉络。     

Interpreting elements and isotopes in glass: A review

Substantial databases of elemental and isotopic analyses of ancient glass exist and are used to investigate raw material origin, trade, exchange, and processes such as mixing and recycling. However, the chemistry of archaeological glass may be challenging to the untrained. The paper provides structured information on the origin of chemical elements and their isotopes in ancient glass. It details some of the functions of individual elements in the glass and from which raw material(s) or process(es) they originate.     

Regionalizing global trade patterns, 1981–2001: application of a new method

This paper investigates the establishment of trading regions in the global economy at the national level using a measure of trade intensity and a regional assignment algorithm that generates economically meaningful trading regions. Although there is definite regionalization in the global economy with regard to international trade, there is no evidence of an increase in the concentration of that regionalization over time. The geography of international trade is incredibly dynamic, with change related to political, historical and economic forces. Overall, trading regions have relatively few members and are increasingly a set of geographically close countries.     

Panda politics

This article argues that China's agreement in 2012 to loan Canada two panda bears is emblematic of animals’ simultaneous material‐symbolic inclusion and exclusion in contemporary politics. Employing a material focus, this article draws a connection between the panda gift and the promise to which it is attached: a promise of material flows; of Chinese access to Canadian resources, especially; and controversially, tar sands oil. Common to geographical flows of both pandas and oil is a devaluation of nonhuman life. In one flow, two pandas cross the Pacific for a decade of captivity at the Toronto and Calgary Zoos, where visitors will pay to view the permanently visible pandas. In the other instance, oil will be shipped across the same ocean, oil whose production comes at great cost to wildlife, including caribou, birds, and fish, and whose spill at any point along its journey to China would devastate marine and terrestrial wildlife populations. Stark power imbalances between species are at the heart of both of these flows and their material consequences. This article argues that, in emphasizing what the pandas symbolize, the extent to which their own and others’ lives are materially affected is elided.     

The Design and Development of a Closed Chamber for the in‐situ Quantification of Dryland Soil Carbon Dioxide Fluxes

This paper describes the design features and capabilities of a portable automated in‐situ closed chamber (ISCC) for the quantification of CO₂ fluxes in dryland soils where both photosynthetic and respiratory components may be associated with a cyanobacterial crust. The processes of CO₂ flux in dryland soils are briefly described in order to clarify the conditions that make quantification of these fluxes problematic. The instrumentation currently available for in‐situ soil CO₂ flux measurements is then reviewed demonstrating their inadequacies for the dryland environment. The ISCC described here is a member of the closed or enrichment class of soil respiration chambers. The ISCC, however, features an optical window possessing high (>90%) transmission in the photosynthetic active region (PAR) of the solar irradiance spectrum, permitting observations of photosynthesis. The ISCC possesses automatic venting and purging so that gaseous concentrations inside the chamber do not change from ambient sufficiently to significantly affect diffusion. The ISCC features both active and passive cooling employing internal solid‐state Peltier coolers and external aluminised Mylar respectively. This avoids severe disturbance of the microclimate within the chamber due to admission of high fluxes of PAR and permits in‐situ operation under a wide range of ambient field temperatures (~ ?5 to 40°C). Sensors internal to the chamber monitor temperature, relative humidity, irradiance and pressure. In this implementation the ISCC is coupled to a portable gas chromatograph (Agilent GC‐3000) to sample the chamber atmosphere. Indicative data for Kalahari Sand soils of Botswana are presented as an illustration of the general performance characteristics.     

Whither Geography? A Response to Finlayson's Concerns

Prompted by Brian Finlayson's editorial, titled ‘Whither (or Wither?) Geography’, I am reminded that a review of the discipline's status and directions would be timely, using the 2002 Australia‐wide reviews in this journal as benchmarks. I welcome the thoughtful proposal for a disciplinary report to the Academy of Science recently prepared by Alaric Maude on behalf of the National Committee for Geography. I take the view that the three central issues are: firstly, flux in the discipline's ‘external relations’ in an era of interdisciplinarity, cross‐disciplinary mergers, instrumentalism, and budgetary constraints; secondly, flux in ‘internal relations’ involving subdisciplines and subcultures: and thirdly, flux in ‘vertical relations’ involving the links between secondary and tertiary Geography. It is instructive to note that the earliest disciplinary reviews, up to the 1980s, were solely directed towards bibliographic celebrations of research directions whereas recent reviews, of necessity, have been focussed on pressing issues concerning ‘Whither Geography?’. Alaric's proposal will also be issue focussed, with its emphasis on relevance and on contributions of national significance.