scholarly journals How to cross the sea: testing the dispersal mechanisms of the cosmopolitan earthworm Pontodrilus litoralis

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 202297
Author(s):  
Shiao-Yin Chen ◽  
Chia-Hsuan Hsu ◽  
Keryea Soong
Keyword(s):  
Body Parts ◽  
Evolutionary Time ◽  
The West ◽  
Low Latitudes ◽  
The World ◽  
Dispersal Capability ◽  
Phase Out ◽  
Short Time

Dispersal capability often decides the geographical distribution and long-term success of a species. In this investigation, Pontodrilus litoralis , a widely distributed species along shores throughout mid- and low latitudes of the world, was investigated. We tested three hypotheses explaining its dispersal: helped by humans, transported by birds and carried by currents. Although the earthworms seemed to be associated with artificially planted wind-breaking woods and mangroves along the west coast of Taiwan, they were also found on isolated beaches in the Pescadores Islands without such plantings. They are approximately 2 mm wide, making them too small for use as fishing bait. These two mechanisms invoking human help were not supported. In a laboratory experiment, we moved the earthworms to the plumage of various body parts of pigeons, and they dropped off or died within a short time, a result incompatible with the bird hypothesis. The earthworms stayed alive and grew when immersed in freshwater or seawater for at least a month. They also survived on floating wood in an in situ experiment lasting approximately two months. Thus, the current hypothesis was the only one we were unable to falsify; driftwood and perhaps wooden vessels could provide both food and transport on long journeys. Wood boats exist for a short time on an evolutionary time scale, but it may be long enough to disperse the earthworm around the world. The phase-out of wood boats, thus, may start the divergence of P. litoralis populations around the world.

scholarly journals Heatwaves in Kenya 1987–2016: Facts from CHIRTS High Resolution Satellite Remotely Sensed and Station Blended Temperature Dataset

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Martial Amou ◽  
Amatus Gyilbag ◽  
Tsedale Demelash ◽  
Yinlong Xu
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Reference Period ◽  
The West ◽  
Tana River ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The World ◽  
Northern Side ◽  
Data Source

As global temperatures continue to rise unabated, episodes of heat-related catastrophes across the world have intensified. In Kenya, heatwave phenomena and their associated impacts are ignored and neglected due to several reasons, including unreliable and inconsistent weather datasets and heatwave detection metrics. Based on CHIRTS satellite infrared estimates and station blended temperature, this study investigated the spatiotemporal distribution of the heatwave events over Kenya during 1987–2016 using the Heatwave Magnitude Index daily (HWMId). The results showed that contrary to the absence of heatwave records in official national and international disaster database about Kenya, the country experienced heatwaves ranging from less severe (normal) to deadly (super-extreme) between 1987 and 2016. The most affected areas were located in the eastern parts of the country, especially in Garissa and Tana River, and in the west-northern side around the upper side of Turkana county. It was also found that the recent years’ heatwaves were more severe in magnitude, duration, and spatial extent. The highest magnitude of the heatwaves was recorded in 2015 (HWMId = 22.64) while the average over the reference period is around 6. CHIRTS and HWMId were able to reveal and capture most critical heatwave events over the study period. Therefore, they could be used respectively as data source and detection metrics, for heatwaves disaster emergency warning over short period as well as for long-term projection to provide insight for adaptation strategies.

Contrasting tactical and strategic dynamics on a Clausewitz landscape

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-153
Author(s):  
Rodrick Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Models ◽  
Limit Theorems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Human Organization ◽  
The World ◽  
Short Time

Statistical models based on the asymptotic limit theorems of control and information theories allow formal examination of the essential differences between short-time “tactical” confrontations and a long-term “strategic” conflict dominated by evolutionary process. The world of extended coevolutionary conflict is not the world of sequential “muddling through.” The existential strategic challenge is to take cognitive control of a long-term dynamic in which one may, in fact, be “losing” most short-term confrontations. Winning individual battles can be a relatively direct, if not simple or easy, matter of sufficient local resources, training, and resolve. Winning extended conflicts is not direct, and requires management of subtle coevolutionary phenomena subject to a dismaying punctuated equilibrium more familiar from evolutionary theory than military doctrine. Directed evolution has given us the agricultural base needed for large-scale human organization. Directed coevolution of the inevitable conflicts between the various segments of that organization may be needed for its long-term persistence.

Homer: A relational mnemohistory

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Erll
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Twentieth Century Literature ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The West ◽  
Memory Culture ◽  
European Heritage ◽  
The World ◽  
Century Literature

This article proposes to extend the prevalent short-term and presentist frameworks of research on transcultural memory and to consider its dynamics across long-term relational mnemohistories. After more than two and a half millennia, “Homer” and the Homeric epics still resonate in memory cultures across the world. But they are often erroneously cast as “European heritage” or “foundations of the West.” This is the result of what I call a tenacious “Homeric genea-logic.” Highlighting three moments in the relational mnemohistory of Homer, this article shows, first, that already during their emergence in the archaic age, the Homeric epics were relational objects; second, how during the Middle Ages Homer could arrive in Petrarch’s Italy only as a product of relational remembering between the Roman and the Byzantine empires; and third, how twentieth-century literature (Joyce, Walcott) developed conscious modes of mnemonic relationality connecting diverse cultural memories. Relationality thus emerges as a key term for a reflexive memory culture today, a tool to overcome exclusive memory logics (“Homer as the heritage of Europe”) while enabling the articulation of meaningful long-term transcultural memories (“Homer as relational heritage in Europe”).

scholarly journals Temporal clustering of Kawasaki disease cases around the world

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Burney ◽  
Laurel L. DeHaan ◽  
Chisato Shimizu ◽  
Emelia V. Bainto ◽  
Jane W. Newburger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kawasaki Disease ◽  
San Diego ◽  
Combine Data ◽  
Disease Etiology ◽  
Temporal Clustering ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The World ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Short Time

AbstractIn a single-site study (San Diego, CA, USA), we previously showed that Kawasaki Disease (KD) cases cluster temporally in bursts of approximately 7 days. These clusters occurred more often than would be expected at random even after accounting for long-term trends and seasonality. This finding raised the question of whether other locations around the world experience similar temporal clusters of KD that might offer clues to disease etiology. Here we combine data from San Diego and nine additional sites around the world with hospitals that care for large numbers of KD patients, as well as two multi-hospital catchment regions. We found that across these sites, KD cases clustered at short time scales and there were anomalously long quiet periods with no cases. Both of these phenomena occurred more often than would be expected given local trends and seasonality. Additionally, we found unusually frequent temporal overlaps of KD clusters and quiet periods between pairs of sites. These findings suggest that regional and planetary range environmental influences create periods of higher or lower exposure to KD triggers that may offer clues to the etiology of KD.

scholarly journals INTERWENCJA FEDERACJI ROSYJSKIEJ W SYRII – STUDIUM PRZYPADKU ROSYJSKIEJ POLITYKI NA BLISKIM WSCHODZIE

2019 ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
Dariusz Brążkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
The West ◽  
International Environment ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Russian Federation

Abstrakt: Współczesna polityka Federacji Rosyjskiej na Bliskim Wschodzie jest elementem szerokiej strategii ukierunkowanej na cele w środowisku międzynarodowym oraz na cele wewnątrzpaństwowe. Polityka ta jest konfrontacyjna na płaszczyźnie Rosja – Zachód i stanowi koło zamachowe w dążeniu kraju do odzyskania dominującej roli w świecie. Zaangażowanie Federacji Rosyjskiej w konflikt w Syrii jest konsekwencją jej mocarstwowej polityki w zmieniającym się środowisku międzynarodowym. Głównym celem było wyeliminowanie rozwiązań USA i innych państw Zachodu w zakresie interwencji humanitarnej w Syrii. Poza tym utrzymując reżim Baszara al-Asada Federacja Rosyjska podjęła realizację własnego ładu na Bliskim Wschodzie, gdzie chce odgrywać kluczową rolę. Pomagają jej w tym Iran – wieloletni oponent USA oraz Turcja – nowy koalicjant, które mają też swoje partykularne cele w regionie. W przypadku polityki wewnętrznej, rosyjskie elity polityczne chcą utrwalić władzę populistyczną, oferując narodowi drogę dokonań państwa, szczególnie w wymiarze międzynarodowym – wskazując siłę militarną i wyższość polityczną, jako podstawowe elementy odbudowy mocarstwowej roli Federacji Rosyjskiej w świecie. Te kierunki polityki zewnętrznej i wewnętrznej dają obraz konsekwentnych, a jednocześnie zaskakujących działań Federacji Rosyjskiej na Bliskim Wschodzie. Abstract: Contemporary policy of the Russian Federation in the Middle East is an element of a broad strategy focused on international and internal purposes. This policy is confrontational at the level of Russia - the West and constitutes a flywheel in the pursuit of the country to regain its dominant role in the world. The involvement of the Russian Federation in the conflict in Syria is a consequence of its superpower policy in the changing international environment. The main goal was to eliminate the solutions of the USA and other Western countries in the field of humanitarian intervention in Syria. What is more, maintaining the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the Russian Federation has embarked on the implementation of its own order in the Middle East, where it wants to play a key role. Iran, a long-term opponent of the USA, and Turkey, a new coalition partner that also has its particular goals in the region, are the countries which help Russia in this area. In the case of domestic policy, Russia’s power elites want to consolidate populist power by presenting the nation country’s accomplishments, especially in the international dimension, indicating military strength and political superiority as the basic elements of rebuilding the superpower role of the Russian Federation in the world. These external and internal policies give a picture of the consistent and also surprising actions of the Russian Federation in the Middle East

scholarly journals Secondary Organic Aerosol Production from Local Emissions Dominates the Organic Aerosol Budget over Seoul, South Korea, during KORUS-AQ

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin A. Nault ◽  
Pedro Campuzano-Jost ◽  
Douglas A. Day ◽  
Jason C. Schroder ◽  
Bruce Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
The West ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Regional Sources ◽  
Peroxy Nitrates ◽  
The World ◽  
First Time

Abstract. Organic aerosol (OA) is an important fraction of submicron aerosols. However, it is challenging to predict and attribute the specific organic compounds and sources that lead to observed OA loadings, largely due to contributions from secondary production. This is especially true for megacities surrounded by numerous regional sources that create an OA background. Here, we utilize in-situ gas and aerosol observations collected on-board the NASA DC-8 during the NASA/NIER KORUS-AQ (KORea United States-Air Quality) campaign to investigate the sources and hydrocarbon precursors that led to the secondary OA (SOA) production observed over Seoul. First, we investigate the contribution of transported OA to total loadings observed over Seoul, by using observations over the West Sea coupled to FLEXPART Lagrangian simulations. During KORUS-AQ, the average OA loading advected into Seoul was ~ 1–3 µg sm−3. Second, taking this background into account, the dilution-corrected SOA concentration observed over Seoul was ~ 140 µg sm−3 ppmv−1 at 0.5 equivalent photochemical days. This value is at the high end of what has been observed in other megacities around the world (20–70 µg sm−3 ppmv−1 at 0.5 equivalent days). For the average OA concentration observed over Seoul (13 µg sm−3), it is clear that production of SOA from locally emitted precursors is the major source in the region. The importance of local SOA production was supported by the following observations: (1) FLEXPART source contribution calculations indicate any hydrocarbons with a lifetime less than 1 day, which are shown to dominate the observed SOA production, mainly originate from South Korea. (2) SOA correlated strongly with other secondary photochemical species, including short-lived species (formaldehyde, peroxy acetyl nitrate, sum of acyl peroxy nitrates, dihydroxy toluene, and nitrate aerosol). (3) Results from an airborne oxidation flow reactor (OFR), flown for the first time, show a factor of 4.5 increase in potential SOA concentrations over Seoul versus over the West Sea, a region where background air masses that are advected into Seoul can be measured. (4) Box model simulations reproduce SOA observed over Seoul within 15 % on average, and suggest that short-lived hydrocarbons (i.e., xylenes, trimethylbenzenes, semi- and intermediate volatility compounds) were the main SOA precursors over Seoul. Toluene, alone, contributes 9 % of the modeled SOA over Seoul. Finally, along with these results, we use the metric ΔOA/ΔCO2 to examine the amount of OA produced per fuel consumed in a megacity, which shows less variability across the world than ΔOA/ΔCO.

Over-indebtedness of Russians: Myth or reality?

2018 ◽  
pp. 85-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. E. Kuzina ◽  
N. A. Krupenskiy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Interest Rate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Short Term ◽  
High Interest Rate ◽  
Consumer Loans ◽  
The Family ◽  
The World ◽  
Short Time

The main objective of the study is to assess the level of indebtedness and over-indebtedness of Russians. Despite the fact that according to official statistics, the level of household indebtedness in Russia is one of the lowest in the world, the percentage share of non-performing loans is higher than in the countries with a higher level of household indebtedness. During 2015—2017, every fourth of those who had an outstanding loan in Russia spent more than 30% of his or her income on paying back a loan. The reason is that in Russia, within retail lending consumer loans prevail over mortgages. Consumer loans are taken for a short time and at a high interest rate. As a result, debt service of relatively small loans creates a greater burden on the family budget for Russians than in Europe and the United States. In this context, the increase of retail lending can only be sustainable if banks change their business model and transit from short-term consumer credits to long-term loans secured by real estate or other assets.

Second Century of the Communist Party of China and New Bipolarity

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (7) ◽  
pp. 25-33
Author(s):  
V. Mikheev ◽  
S. Lukonin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
100Th Anniversary ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
The West ◽  
Chinese Leadership ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
The World

Linking the 100th anniversary of the CPC, celebrated in 2021, with long-term goals, the Chinese leadership is talking about the country’s entry into the next stage of development – the stage of the “second century of the CPC.” The 14th plan for the socio-economic development of the country for 2021–2025, adopted in March 2021 and long-range objectives through 2035 are seen as the first steps in a new round of China’s evolution. According to the Chinese leadership, the goals of the first century have been largely achieved. Now China faces more ambitious tasks: 1) achieve socialist modernization by 2035, doubling its GDP per capita to the level of an average developed country; 2) to reach the German or Japanese level of industrial and innovative development by 2050; 3) to ensure the innovative and scientific and technological self-sufficiency of China in order to get away from the current technological dependence on the United States and the West in general, which, in the opinion of the Chinese leadership, poses a threat to the national security of the PRC; 4) to create by 2027 (100th anniversary of the PLA) a strong modern army; 5) Ensure China’s global leadership by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the PRC in 2049. The peculiarities of the new 14th five-year plan include the absence of targets for GDP growth rates for 2021–2025. The benchmark will now be set every year. For example, for 2021, this indicator is set in the highly redundant formulation “6 percent or more”. Beijing records the nearing transition from quantitative planning to qualitative planning. The aggravation of relations between China and the United States under the Biden administration and Beijing’s retaliatory, in a new way, actions in almost all areas, from ideology to security and defense, in the near future will change the global balance of power and lead to the formation of a “new bipolarity” implying in the context of globalization, that in addition to the two new planetary “poles” in the world, regional and subregional centers of power will persist and develop, forming, as saying in China, modern “polycentricity”. Against such a background, the “new bipolarity” will be characterized not only by a direct clash of Chinese and American interests, but also by a struggle for dominance, influence, and alliance with the leaders of the “polycentric world.” Within the framework of the “new bipolarity”, the United States is strengthening relations with allies, opposing the “democratic economy” of the West to the “authoritarianism of China”. The concept of financing by the West of the world transport infrastructure of a “democratic sense” as opposed to the “authoritarian” Chinese “Belt and Road” is put forward. In the reciprocal steps of China to attract partners to the “Chinese pole”, the main place is given to Russia, relations with which are characterized as “exemplary” for the whole world. At the same time, there is an opinion among Chinese experts that “excessive rapprochement” with Russia is unprofitable for China, since for Russia, as well as for the United States, China is not only a partner, but also a “strategic competitor.” China has become the main Russian trade and economic partner, in many directions it has turned into an uncontested supplier. At the same time, the “Sino-Russian Comprehensive Partnership in a New Era” contains many tactical and long-term problems.

scholarly journals Comparative study on long term climate data sources over South Korea

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 504-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Ik Kim ◽  
Dawei Han
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
The World ◽  
In Situ Observations ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Global Datasets ◽  
Different Parts

Abstract Long term climate data are vitally important in reliably assessing water resources and water related hazards, but in-situ observations are generally sparse in space and limited in time. Although there are several global datasets available as substitutes, there is a lack of comparative studies about their suitability in different parts of the world. In this study, to find out the reliable century-long climate dataset in South Korea, we first evaluate multi-decadal reanalyses (ERA-20 cm, ERA-20c, ERA-40 and NOAA 20th century reanalysis (20CR)) and gridded observations (CRUv3.23 and GPCCv7) for monthly mean precipitation and temperature. In the temporal and statistical comparisons, CRUv3.23 and GPCCv7 for precipitation and ERA-40 for temperature perform the best, and ERA-20c and 20CR also indicate meaningful agreements. For ERA-20 cm, it has only a statistical agreement, but the mean has the difficulty in representing its ensemble. This paper also shows that the applicability of each dataset may vary by region and all products should be locally adjusted before being applied in climate impact assessments. These findings not only help to fill in the knowledge gaps about these datasets in South Korea but also provide a useful guideline for the applicability of the global datasets in different parts of the world.

scholarly journals Turkey’ s Empowerment and Tendencies for Islamic Core State

SEEU Review ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-109
Author(s):  
Gurakuç Kuçi
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
World Order ◽  
Core State ◽  
The West ◽  
The Core ◽  
The World ◽  
Islamic Civilization ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Short Time

Abstract The end of the Cold War changed the world order. This change created opportunities for a short time to have an international hegemony to switch to international polycentrism. Huntington had anticipated and explained a confrontation and remake of the international order. This author explains that Islam as a civilization does not have a core state like other civilizations. Turkey today is one of these countries which is trying to take this role of the core state for Islamic civilization. The creation of the core state for Islamic civilization, and the making of all world civilizations with core states, pushed the world into the “civil-centrism” international detachment. However, Turkey as a core for Islam civilization, to the nuclearisation of Turkey can be done with the blessing and assistance of the “West”. Creating these civil-centrist centres also makes it possible to achieve peace and agreements in the global interest more easily.

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