Asia on the move: research challenges for population geography

This paper "summarises some of the major changes which have occurred in international migration to, from, and within Asia in the last two decades....A number of theoretical challenges are put forward regarding the complex interrelationships between international population movements, economic development and social change. The employment of systems approaches, neoclassical economic theory, social networks and institutional approaches, and the potential role of population geography in developing a more comprehensive explanation of the changing dynamics of international migration in the region, are discussed. Also considered are the gender dimension in migration, remittance flows and their consequences, and policy issues."     

Migration trends in British rural areas from the 18th to the 20th centuries

"Longitudinal residential histories are used to examine the extent to which three rural areas in Britain had distinctive migration histories from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Migration flows into and out of the regions are used to examine the extent to which the regions were integrated into the British migration system, and the relative importance of rural to urban migration is assessed.... Analysis reveals a high degree of short-distance mobility within regions and emphasises the dominance of London in longer-distance migration.... It is also suggested that the role of towns in the migration system has previously been overemphasised, with much migration taking place between small settlements and some movement from large cities to smaller towns and villages.... The analysis challenges some accepted notions about migration in the past, and contributes to the debate about the extent to which British regions became part of a national economic and social system from the 18th century."     

A quantitative bifurcation analysis of Hénon-like 2D maps

We numerically study the bifurcations of two nonlinear maps, with the same linear part, which depend on a parameter namely the Hénon quadratic map and the so called beam-beam map. Many families of periodic orbits which bifurcate from the central family, are studied. Each family undergoes a sequence of period doubling bifurcations in the quadratic map, But the behavior of the beam-beam map is completely different. Inverse bifurcations occur in both maps. But some families of the same type which bifurcate inversely in the quadratic map do not bifurcate inversely in the beam-beam map, even though both maps have common linear part.     

An evaluation of residential air radon concentrations and related variables in southeast Michigan,USA

Analysis of 153 residential air radon (Rn-222) screening measurements from southeast Michigan indicates that basements host Rn levels two to three times higher than upper-level rooms. Compared to unfinished basements, finished (e.g., paneled walls, tiled floors) basements apparently reduce indoor air Rn levels while partially finished basements may not. Factor analysis of residence questionnaire data explains 59 percent of the Rn data variance. The volume of pathways (e.g., foundation cracks/holes, uncapped sumps) allowing Rn seepage into the dwelling controls the largest portion, 23 percent, of the explained data variance. The residence water source explains 11 percent of the Rn data variance. Groundwater Rn levels contribute to the air Rn data variability, but the study data cannot quantitatively assess this contribution. Seven percent of the Rn data variance is likely controlled by house depressurization facilitated by residence structural properties. Residences with foundation cracks or poorly sealed joints and low-volume indoor-outdoor air exchange are more prone to this effect. Eighteen percent of the explained Rn data variance correlates with the residence's primary heat source. Evidently, operating combustion sources also induce house depressurization and allow Rn to be drawn into the house through entry paths. Twenty-four percent of the analyses equal or exceed 4 pCi/1 Rn. In residences occupied 5 years by the same individuals, 17 percent of the Rn data are 4 pCi/l; here the arithmetic mean air Rn level is 8.3 pCi/l and the average occupancy period 17.4 years.     

Inner part observation of theβ pictoris disk

The inner regions of the circumstellar disk around Pictoris might be dust-free due to a possible planet which may have cleared up dust particles. We present a new observational technique based on the use of an anti-blooming CCD in order to directly image this zone. The structure of the disk is revealed down to 2 arcsec from the star (30 AU). We show that the Pic disk brightness is neutral inV, R, andI _C , but drops down when going inward inB, possibly related to a change in the dust composition. Also, a slight disk asymmetry is present but inverted from the outer to the inner zones.Paper presented at the Conference onPlanetary Systems: Formation, Evolution, and Detection held 7–10 December, 1992 at CalTech, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.     

Once more on quasar periodicities

In an earlier paper Arp, Bi, Chu and Zhu investigated various quasar samples and recognized a periodicity of remarkable degree in them. Their conclusion was that the existence of such a periodicity is a counterevidence against the cosmological origin of quasar redshifts. Since this question is of great importance in a cosmological context, here we reanalyze some of the samples together with a galaxy sample of the pencil-beam survey of Broadhurstet al. Our result is that on the plane of cosmological parameters (₀, ₀) there is a non-negligible region where two quasar samples and the galaxy sample are simultaneously fairly periodic. Pure periodicity is still compatible with cosmological principles, at least on length scales much longer than the period length. So the regularities can fit into a cosmological context.     

Geomorphic evolution of a part of Middle Ganga Plain,Bihar: A case study using remote sensing data

An insight into the geomorphic evolution of any area can be obtained by detailed landform mapping. In the present study, an area in the Middle Ganga Plain has been selected for the study using mainly remote sensing data. Various fluvial landforms have been mapped and the changes in planform of rivers over approximately 50 years have been evaluated. Both fluvial processes and tectonic activities are considered to have collectively influenced the migration of the rivers in this region. Digital enhancements of Landsat MSS and TM data are found to be quite useful in identification and mapping of subtle fluvial palaeofeatures. The present study demonstrates the utility of remote sensing in examining the geomorphic evolution of the area.     

Stellar irradiance variations due to surface temperature inhomogeneities

Observations of rotational modulation of continuum brightness and photospheric and chromospheric spectral-line profiles of late-type stars indicate the presence of very inhomogeneous surface temperature distributions. We present three stellar examples (VY Ari, HR 7275, HU Vir) where time-series photometry is used to trace the evolution of spotted regions. Simultaneous spectroscopy and Doppler imaging for one of the three stars (HU Virgo, Fig. 1) makes it possible to compute the temperature distribution of the photosphere and the relative intensity distribution of parts of the chromosphere (from CaII K and H line profiles). The combination of time-series spot modeling and Doppler imaging enabled us to determine thesign and amount of differential surface rotation on HU Vir. We found a big, cool polar spot (see figure below) and a differential (surface) rotation law where higher-latitude regions rotate faster than lower-latitude regions (opposite to what we see on the Sun). Currently, this ensemble of techniques - time-series photometry and photospheric and chromospheric Doppler imaging - is only applicable to stars overactive by approximately a factor of 100 as compared to the active Sun, e.g. the evolved components in RS CVn-type binaries and some rapidly-rotating, single, pre-main sequence stars or giant stars. Stellar rotation is a fundamental parameter for (magnetic) activity. Starspots, or any other surface inhomogeneities, allow one to derive very precise stellar rotation rates and, if coupled with seismological observations of solar-type stars, could provide information on the internal angular momentum distribution in overactive late-type stars.To be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.     

Electric field in a pulsar's radiation channel

A pulsar's electric field is investigated for the cases of coaxial and skewed rotators. A mutually consistent solution is found for the electric field in the neutron star, in its magnetosphere (the region of closed magnetic field lines), and in the radiation channel (a channel of open magnetic field lines). In the theory of pulsar radio emission, only the longitudinal component of the electric field strength in the radiation channel, , is important, where R is the radius of the star, B_s is the magnetic inductionin it, is its angular rotation rate, and r is distance from its center.Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 97–110, January–February, 1994.     

Periodic orbits and their bifurcations in a 3-D system

We study some simple periodic orbits and their bifurcations in the Hamiltonian . We give the forms of the orbits, the characteristics of the main families, and some existence diagrams and stability diagrams. The existence diagram of the family 1a contains regions that are stable (S), simply unstable (U), doubly unstable (DU) and complex unstable (). In the regionsS andU there are lines of equal rotation numberm/n. Along these lines we have bifurcations of families of periodic orbits of multiplicityn. When these lines reach the boundary of the complex unstable region, they are tangent to it. Inside the region there are linesm/n, along which the orbits 1a, describedn-times, are doubly unstable; however, along these lines there are no bifurcations ofn-ple periodic orbits. The families bifurcating from 1a exist only in certain regions of the parameter space (, ). The limiting lines of these regions join at particular points representing collisions of bifurcations. These collisions of bifurcations produce a nonuniqueness of the various families of periodic orbits. The complicated structure of the various bifurcations can be understood by constructing appropriate stability diagrams.