The conditionality of status: Experience-based reflections on the insider/outsider issue

When a researcher undertakes research into his/her own ethnic group, issues of positionality abound. These issues relate not only to the impact of inherent insider positionality when interacting with study participants but also in the interpretation and presentation of study findings. My research with contemporary Irish immigrants not only reinforced the advantages of being an insider but also highlighted the incomplete and unstable nature of insiderness. Heterogeneity within the study group, in terms of their geo-political, regional and religious origins, meant that presumptions of insiderness and outsiderness were frequently challenged. A new awareness of the conditionality of each positionality was forged from these experiences.     

Long-term bed load transport rate based on aerial-photo and ground penetrating radar surveys of fan-delta growth, Coast Mountains, British Columbia

Sequential aerial photography, sonar bathymetry, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and sediment sampling and analysis provide the basis for calculating the volumetric and mass rate of progradation of the delta of Fitzsimmons Creek, a steep, high-energy, debris-flow-dominated channel draining about 100 km² of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. Fitzsimmons Creek is typical of small mountain rivers in the region. GPR imaging is used to define the pre-depositional morphology of the receiving basin, a technique that improves the accuracy of the volumetric survey. The 52-year record (1947–1999) of progradation yielded an average annual volumetric transport rate of 1.00±0.16×10⁴ m³ year⁻¹ for bed load, corresponding to a mass transport rate of 1.60±0.28×10⁴ Mg year⁻¹. Bed load yields are consistent with those obtained in hydrogeomorphically similar basins in the region and elsewhere. Decade-based annual rates, which vary from 0.64±0.11×10⁴ to 2.85±0.38×10⁴ Mg year⁻¹, provide poor estimates of the 52-year average. Indeed, the 52-year record may also not be long enough to fully integrate the significant fluctuations in the sediment efflux from Fitzsimmons Creek. The methodology proposed in this paper can be transferred to other comparable mountain environments worldwide.     

闽东北地区夏季对流云特征的初步分析

利用新一代天气雷达资料分析闽东北地区夏季对流云的回波特征。分析表明:多单体合并对流云在生命史、回波高度、强度、尺度等方面都超过了单体对流云,其液态水总量也更大,自然降水条件和人工影响潜力都优于单体对流云,是夏季降水和人工催化的重要云系。分析得到对流云发展的不同阶段、不同高度层辐合辐散特点,为进一步研究夏季对流云结构和降水原理提供科学依据。通过对两个个例的天气形势分析,指出冷空气对对流发展有一定的激发作用。     

Image processing of 2D resistivity data for imaging faults

A methodology to locate automatically limits or boundaries between different geological bodies in 2D electrical tomography is proposed, using a crest line extraction process in gradient images. This method is applied on several synthetic models and on field data set acquired on three experimental sites during the European project PALEOSIS where trenches were dug. The results presented in this work are valid for electrical tomographies data collected with a Wenner-alpha array and computed with an l₁ norm (blocky inversion) as optimization method. For the synthetic cases, three geometric contexts are modelled: a vertical and a dipping fault juxtaposing two different geological formations and a step-like structure. A superficial layer can cover each geological structure. In these three situations, the method locates the synthetic faults and layer boundaries, and determines fault displacement but with several limitations. The estimated fault positions correlate exactly with the synthetic ones if a conductive (or no superficial) layer overlies the studied structure. When a resistive layer with a thickness of 6 m covers the model, faults are positioned with a maximum error of 1 m. Moreover, when a resistive and/or a thick top layer is present, the resolution significantly decreases for the fault displacement estimation (error up to 150%). The tests with the synthetic models for surveys using the Wenner-alpha array indicate that the proposed methodology is best suited to vertical and horizontal contacts. Application of the methodology to real data sets shows that a lateral resistivity contrast of 1:5–1:10 leads to exact faults location. A fault contact with a resistivity contrast of 1:0.75 and overlaid by a resistive layer with a thickness of 1 m gives an error location ranging from 1 to 3 m. Moreover, no result is obtained for a contact with very low contrasts (1:0.85) overlaid by a resistive soil. The method shows poor results when vertical gradients are greater than horizontal ones. This kind of image processing technique should be systematically used for improving the objectiveness of tomography interpretation when looking for limits between geological objects.     

Distribution of chlorophyll-a off the Changjiang River and its dynamic cause interpretation

Red tide,also called harmful algal bloom interna-tionally,is a disaster abnormal phenomenon of oceanecology with an explosive breed or dense assemble ofone or several phytoplanktons in a specific ocean en-vironment condition,colors the seawater,influencesand harms ocean living things.The formation of redtide is controlled mainly by a complex interplay ofbiological,physical and chemical processes,but themost main cause influencing the occurrence of red tideis the seawater eutrophication,i.e.,the…     

工程勘察设计行业信息化建设问题反思及其新领域应用开发综述

本文通过对勘察设计行业信息化建设的深入思考,总结并提出了在设计院信息化建设七个领域应用开发的新思路。     

对工程勘察信息化的几点认识

从信息技术的角度看,工程勘察实际上是一种“信息获取、信息理解和信息应用”的过程。作为一项技术和服务,工程勘察的信息化应由工程勘察业务信息化和工程勘察管理信息化两方面组成。工程勘察信息化的作用包括信息化辅助业务和管理、信息化支撑业务和管理以及信息化提升业务和管理三个层次。当前,有必要对工程勘察企业信息化的模式、工程勘察业务信息化提升的方式和工程勘察信息化的标准化等问题做进一步研究,以推动工程勘察信息化向深度和广度发展。     

工程勘察设计信息集成化系统的实施状况及其思考

国家建设部“全国工程勘察设计行业2000～2005年计算机应用工程及信息化发展规划纲要”发布后,备受工程设计企业关注,但推行情况却不甚理想。本文通过阐述信息集成化系统的主要任务和目标,分析其应用状况,寻求推广受阻原因,提出了开发该系统的思路和改善其实施环境的建议。     

放射性勘探探寻油气藏的试验效果

对应用放射性直接探寻油气藏勘探试验所取得已知油藏区的资料进行了综合分析。总结了油气藏上方放射性异常的规律;探讨了放射性异常与油气藏的关系。对放射性异常的数据处理方法及应用放射性方法探寻油气藏的应用效果进行了剖析。指出:在实际应用中,氡浓度测量在勘查油气藏方面比伽玛能谱总量和伽玛能谱具有较好的应用效果。     

Gender and agrobiodiversity: a case study from Bangladesh

Local geography and gender are two major factors determining which crop varieties are cultivated in a case study of two rural villages in Bangladesh. This paper explores the interrelationships between gender, agrobiodiversity, and the use of, and preferences for, improved and local crop varieties. These are examined in relation to rice, minor field crops, and home garden fruits and vegetables. Reasons for both the displacement and the persistence of local varieties (LVs) are analysed in comparison to improved variety (IV) diffusion. The research evaluates agrobiodiversity through the number, types, and varieties of crops grown in fields and home gardens. The desired agroecological, economic, and cultural characteristics of crops grown document how respondents rank their variety preferences. Variety preferences and the perceived importance of LV preservation are compared with what is actually grown. The study indicates that there was little variation between villages in their approach towards the use of IV and LV rice; IVs were cultivated for their high yields and LV rice for taste and culinary uses. However, there were significant differences in relative agricultural dependence between the two villages which led to unique variety preferences. In both villages, women's preferences for IVs or LVs play a major role in crop choices, particularly as they manifest themselves in gendered domains of authority.