Changing models of settlement,economy, and ritual activity: Recent research in late prehistoric central Europe

Recent research in central Europe is changing our understanding of the role of centers in economic and social systems of late prehistoric times. Increased attention to smaller, more typical settlements shows that they engaged in economic activities similar to those at the large, fortified complexes. Abundant new evidence pertaining to ritual activity indicates that ritual was often integrated into daily life at settlements. The evidence from the exceptionally rich data on late prehistoric central Europe can be of substantial value for developing models applicable to contexts in other parts of the world.     

The Economics of Rural Households in Russia: Impact of Village Location

An American specialist on Russia's agrarian sector and two collaborators explore the effects of distance to nearby urban markets on the agricultural output and income of Russian rural households. Unlike previous studies that have largely tested such effects on the basis of household distance from relatively large oblast administrative centers, the authors adopt a micro-level scale of analysis, focusing on distance from smaller rayon centers. Comparison of two sample populations (near vs. remote from rayon center) from a larger survey population of 900 households in nine representative regions of Russia reveals marked differences in household incomes, commodity output, and real holdings of land that are statistically verified by a linear regression model. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, P32, Q15, Q18. 4 tables, 46 references.     

浙江省区域创新中心空间格局及其驱动机制研究

区域创新中心建设对区域创新资源整合优化,发挥区域创新优势意义重大。研究运用最邻近距离、核密度估计、探索性空间分析等方法,分析浙江省区域创新中心空间分布、聚类特征及影响因素,得出以下结论:2013年浙江省区域创新中心空间分布整体呈现"周边少,中心多"的态势,空间点分布呈现凝聚特征,空间核分布存在明显不均衡现象;各县市区域创新中心空间分布同样呈现集聚特征,且存在明显的高值与低值集聚;区域创新中心的建设与发展需要市场各级主体的共同合作,同时还受到区域创新能力、经济发展水平、产业集群优势、政府政策因素以及空间邻近效应的影响。     

基于普查单位的北京市就业中心识别与功能定位

运用第二次经济普查单位地理编码数据分析了北京市就业密度变化特征,并对就业中心功能进行了分析。北京市就业中心整体上仍呈现单中心格局特征,多中心格局虽有显现但并不明显。本文共识别出中关村片区、金融街片区和CDB片区等三个就业中心片区和上地、首都机场、曙光街道等十二个就业次中心。依据专业行业就业人口数量指标、区位熵指标,就业人口占同行业比例指标,将北京市就业中心分为7种类型,即大型企业集聚型就业中心、临空经济集聚型就业中心、制造业集聚型就业中心、批发零售集聚型就业中心、商务商业集聚型就业中心、金融集聚型就业中心、科研教育集聚型就业中心。传统就业中心因集聚效益、集群效应和锁定效应使范围进一步扩大,密度显著提高,中心功能也日益复杂,细分行业分化明显。     

Fears and aspirations

Very little study has been done of the role of US Intelligence in the South Pacific command in the Second World War. Collection of information on the civilian population concentrated mainly on settlers, sojourners and migrant labour, but military personnel also come under scrutiny. US intelligence collecting was at its most intense in New Caledonia, a major base for the US forces and a country rated as highly strategic by the Allies, especially in the early phases of the war with Japan. Because of the Vichy‐Free French divide from 1940 on, the US was especially wary of possible subversion of the war effort there, but its purview also took in the Asiatic and Melanesian population though the latter, as in the Southwest command, were not considered a major threat. Even so, the magnitude and detail of the intelligence carried out suggests that post‐war political considerations were never far from the US government's wider concerns and aspirations.     

Talking class,talking race: language,class, and race in the call center industry in South Africa

Against a backdrop of declining manufacturing employment, this article uses a study of the call center industry to argue that English language proficiency is central to new service jobs in post-apartheid South Africa. Drawing on research in Durban, we in this study show that access to call center work—especially the highest paid niches—is heavily mediated by English language skills generally attainable only at the most elite high schools. In doing so, we argue that access to English-medium education can challenge racial disadvantage, but simultaneously that English can help to consolidate white privilege through the continued association of a ‘prestigious’ accent with whiteness. The study accordingly reveals the importance of language in the changing intersectionality of race and class and, in doing so, underlines the value of social and cultural perspectives in labor geography.     

Reimagining the City of Fire and Iron: A landscape archaeology of the Angkor-Period Industrial Complex of Preah Khan of Kompong Svay,Cambodia (ca. 9th to 13th centuries A.D.)

In the archaeological literature regional centers often receive far less attention than capital regions and the medieval Khmer Empire (ca. 9th to 15th centuries a.d.) is a classic case in point. At its height, the Khmer Empire stretched across much of mainland Southeast Asia, and it remains the most extensive dominion in the history of the region. To date, however, relatively little archaeological work has been completed outside of the capital of Angkor, and we have a limited understanding of the broader dynamics of the Empire. In this paper we begin to address this lacuna at the remote monumental complex of Preah Khan of Kompong Svay, the largest of all the Angkor-period regional centers. We describe the use of remote sensing and ground survey methods to produce the first comprehensive archaeological map of the site. The map data are used to evaluate conventional interpretations of the site as a major industrial complex, urban center and military outpost. The findings have implications for our understanding of early urbanism, industrial production and imperial expansion in the region.     

Remarks on the pattern of septal insertion in rugose corals

Wang, G., Percival, I.G. & Li, R., 25.2.2015. Remarks on the pattern of septal insertion in rugose corals. Alcheringa 39, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

Well-preserved specimens of the Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) rugose coral Lambeophyllum? corniculum He from the Yangtze Platform of South China, clearly show how catasepta (minor septa) are inserted, confirming the model proposed by Weyer in the 1970s. Our observations indicate the insertion of counter lateral septa and their neighbouring catasepta on the counter side takes place in exactly the same manner as that of the subsequent metasepta and catasepta. We propose abandoning the use of the term counter lateral septa. Therefore, exclusion of the pair of counter lateral septa reduces the number of protosepta from six to four.

Guangxu Wang [gxwang@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Ian G. Percival [ian.percival@trade.nsw.gov.au], Geological Survey of New South Wales, 947–953 Londonderry Road, Londonderry, NSW 2753, Australia; Rongyu Li [lir@brandonu.ca], Department of Geology, Brandon University, Manitoba R7A 6A9, Canada.     

海外会展业空间布局的研究及启示——以德国、香港为例

本文从产业布局的研究角度,分析了会展业的产业特点,概括了当前会展业布局的现状,以德国和香港会展业布局的经验为例,在宏观和微观两个层面上分析了对会展业布局的条件和要求,并对我国会展业的布局提出了以下一些看法:①会展中心城市的布局需考虑综合因素,最重要的是经济实力;②注重城市的产业特色,发展专业性的会展,创造名牌的会展产品;③发展会展业应与城市发展战略相结合,与城市总体规划相协调;④大型会展中心的布局需要规范的科学论证。     

Building survey forms for heterogeneous urban areas in seismically hazardous zones. Application to the historical center of Valparaíso,Chile

ABSTRACT

Building survey is an essential data-collection procedure to feed large-scale seismic vulnerability assessment. The available strategies usually consider survey forms to gather information about the urban buildings. The application of the available survey forms poses important challenges for the case of the heterogeneous urban centers including different structural typologies. This work proposes four specific survey forms for traditional structural typologies constructed with masonry, reinforced concrete, mixed steel-reinforced concrete, and timber. The proposed forms request essential information on the parameters necessary for seismic vulnerability assessment, by evaluating the lateral-load resistant system, regularity, condition of conservation, and existing damages. The survey forms were applied to the study of 111 buildings of the historical center of Valparaíso, Chile. The proposed methodology was complemented with the use of Geographic Information Systems to obtain a complete database with the structural characterization of the most representative typologies for future works of large-scale seismic vulnerability assessment.