Metropolitan growth and the mobility and immobility of skilled and creative couples across the life course

The human capital and creative class hypotheses argue that the agglomeration of skilled and creative people is key to economic growth. Migration is assumed to play an important role in forming these agglomerations. However, the results of this study indicate that while younger cohorts of skilled and creative individuals are highly mobile, skilled and creative couples are highly immobile. This research hypothesizes that it is these relatively immobile skilled and creative couples that are behind the link between urban growth and concentrations of skill and creativity. Indeed, this analysis finds a strong empirical link between concentrations of skilled couples, but not creative class couples, and economic growth. Public policies designed to increase the size of the skilled population should be directed at retaining younger cohorts long enough for them to develop the local networks upon which spillover effects rely.     

The dynamics of wave induced ship motions in shallow water

The analytical method developed by Svendsen (1968) for a forced heave motion is extended to the general problem of wave induced heave, roll and sway motions of a long ship at a depth of water which is only slightly larger than the draught of the ship. This corresponds, for example, to the situation of a fully loaded ship in a harbour area.After linearization of the problem, the water motion is considered for each of the three individual motions and for the wave reflection-transmission problem for a fixed ship. The ensuing results for the forces on the ship are then synthesized to form the equations of motion, which are presented with all coefficients given, including mooring forces.Analytical and numerical results are given for the three components of motion, for the associated resonance frequencies, and for the hydrodynamic masses and moments of inertia. Finally, the assumptions used are analyzed and evaluated by comparison with measurements and with other results for a special case.     

The quality of life in Ukraine and in Russia as a factor of socio-economic development

The characteristic features of the socio-geographical approach in analyzing the “quality of life of population” category are highlighted. Experience in assessing the balanced development of Ukraine and Russia is presented; the most important factors that are responsible for the quality of life in these countries are determined.     

三江平原东方白鹤种群现状与人工招引研究

20世纪60年代,三江平原是东方白鹳的主要繁殖区,但由于湿地开发、人为干扰使得东方白鹳的繁殖地不断缩小,繁殖种群数量明显减少.2004-2007年通过在三江平原开展大规模的东方白鹳人工招引和保护的实施措施,东方白鹳的繁殖种群已经明显回升.但部分地区对东方白鹳的了解和保护程度还不够,今后应该加强对该物种的宣传、研究和保护工作.     

Assessment of the mycoflora of commercial poultry feeds sold in the humid tropical environment of Imo State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to identify the common moulds growing in selected commercial poultry feed sold in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. Forty-eight bulk samples derived froml92 bags of feeds were collected from broiler starter (BS), broiler finishers (BF), grower mash (GM) and layer mash (LM) across 4 different brands of ommercial poultry feeds, which included Livestock (LF), Top (TF) Guinea (GF) and Vital (VF) feeds. The feed samples were collected during the rainy season months of June, July and August. The common moulds isolated from these feeds were Aspergillus sp., Peicillium sp.,Mucor sp., Yeast sp., Rhizopus sp., Epicoecum sp., Gymnoaseus sp., Cladosporium sp., Mortierella sp. as well as Bacteria. Generally, more organisms were isolated in June than the other months with Mortierella sp. being the only one not isolated in that month. Vital feed with 8 different isolates had the highest diversity of fungal species while the others had between 4 and 5 species. Prevalence rates across the feed types, generally ranged from 18.76% in layer mash to 30.03% in broiler finisher. The four Aspergillus sp. isolated came from GM and BF. This study highlights the need for constant monitoring of moulds in commercial feedstuff produced in the humid tropical environments such as Imo state, Nigeria. There is also the need to routinely include fungal growth nhibitors in commercial feeds since moulds are capable of reducing the nutritional values of feedstuff as well as elaborating pathogenic toxins.     

Late-Holocene paleoenvironmental change at mid-elevation on the Caribbean slope of the Cordillera Central,Dominican Republic: a multi-site,multi-proxy analysis

High-resolution proxy records from the circum-Caribbean region indicate significant variation in Late Holocene climate, especially precipitation, attributed primarily to shifts in the mean annual position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The paleoenvironmental and cultural impacts of this Late-Holocene climate variability have been analyzed intensively in the western Caribbean, and to a lesser extent in the southern Caribbean. However, the occurrence and impacts of Late Holocene climate shifts in the eastern Caribbean, especially in island interiors, has not been well documented. Here we present sediment records of Late-Holocene paleoenvironmental change from two lakes located on the Caribbean slope of the Cordillera Central in the Dominican Republic that span the last ～3000 years. Sediment characteristics, pollen, charcoal, biogenic carbonate assemblages and isotopic composition, and bulk sedimentary carbon isotope values in Laguna Castilla and Laguna de Salvador indicate extreme shifts in hydrology, vegetation, and disturbance regimes in response to climate change and human activity in the lake watersheds. Close correspondence between the hydrological histories of the lakes and trace metal concentrations in sediments of the Cariaco Basin indicate that precipitation variability here responds to the same controls, and may similarly reflect shifts in the mean annual position of the ITCZ. Human occupation of the watersheds appears to be closely linked to severe dry periods and may indicate larger scale cultural responses to precipitation variability on the island of Hispaniola. Prehistoric human populations strongly affected vegetation and disturbance regimes in the lake watersheds. Impacts may have lasted several centuries and may have been more severe than impacts of modern populations.     

The influence of one-dimensional velocity sections on determining the key parameters of the earthquake sources in Azerbaijan

The paper addresses the construction of one-dimensional (1D) velocity models in the seismogenic regions of Azerbaijan taken individually and the analysis of implications of these models for estimating the key parameters of earthquake sources in Azerbaijan. We considered and analyzed the seismological data from the local earthquakes, the arrival times of the P-, P-g, Pn-, S-, Sg-, and Sn-waves recorded by the network of telemetry stations during the period from 2005 to 2014 with ml ≥ 2.5. For constructing the models, we used the VELEST program which calculates 1D velocity models from travel times of seismic waves. As a result, the 1D models were built for ten regions of Azerbaijan; the key parameters of the hypocenters of the earthquakes were recalculated; and the corrections to the body-wave arrival times at the observation stations were obtained, which increased the accuracy of locating the hypocenter of earthquakes.     

Past environmental change and seawater intrusion into coastal Lake Lilaste,Latvia

Diatoms, organic matter and magnetic susceptibility in a 10-m-long sediment sequence from coastal Lake Lilaste, Latvia, were analysed to evaluate Holocene environmental changes related to past sea-water intrusions. Lake Lilaste is located ~1 km from the present sea coast in an area with a low uplift rate and a threshold altitude of 0.5 m a.s.l. It was thus considered to be an appropriate site to study the influence of past sea level fluctuations on the lake and its sediments. Variations in diatom community composition, along with sediment lithostratigraphy, show that a shallow, nutrient-rich freshwater lake existed there during the early Holocene. The first brackish-water diatoms appeared concurrent with a sea level rise ca. 8700 ± 50 cal a BP, but long-term, intermittent inputs of brackish water were observed between 6700 ± 40 and 4200 ± 80 cal a BP. During those time spans, diatoms indicate increased nutrient concentrations and high conductivity, a consequence of occasional mixing of brackish and freshwater that promoted biological productivity. Lilaste was isolated from the sea at 4200 ± 80 cal a BP, after which a stable freshwater environment, dominated by planktonic diatoms such as Aulacoseira ambigua, A. granulata, A. islandica and A. subarctica, was established. At 400 ± 50 cal a BP, planktonic diatoms were gradually replaced by Fragilaria spp., indicating the beginning of anthropogenic impact. The reconstructed relative water-level curve from the lake coincides with the eustatic sea level curve from 6800 ± 40 cal a BP onwards. There was a distinct increase in abundance of brackish-water diatoms when the sea level reached the threshold of Lilaste, which at that time was probably about 3 m lower than the present sea level. According to radiocarbon-dated shifts in the diatom community composition, the Litorina Sea transgression was a long-lasting event (ca. 2200 years) in the southern part of the Gulf of Riga, where the land uplift rate was near zero. It culminated more than 1000 years later than at other sites with higher uplift, in the northern part of the Baltic Sea.     

Ubvri photometry of some lunar topographies

Examples of pure lunar mountains, dark and light maria, and cratered terrae have been observed with the UBVRI stellar photometry system. Johnson's (1965) absolute calibration was used to compute brightnesses. These brightnesses were reduced using Hapke's photometric model to a standard geometry (angle of incidence 60°, emergence 40°, phase 90°), and relative albedos were then computed.The mountains, as distinct from the other regions, appear to require a wavelength dependent phase function. The albedos for the four topographic types are approximately linear functions of wavelength. The terrae are redder than the maria. Very low contrast between the topographies is predicted for full-moon at wavelengths shorter than 0.30. On the basis of laboratory studies, the lunar particles are comparable to basalt grains having sizes less than 50m. Larger particle sizes are associated with the dark maria and smaller ones with the cratered highlands.