bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Late twentieth-century trends in tree-community composition in an Amazonian forest
Authors: Laurance William F. , Oliveira Alexandre A. , Laurance Susan G. , Condit Richard , Nascimento Henrique E. M. , Andrade Ana , Dick Christopher W. , Sanchez-Thorin Ana C. , Lovejoy Thomas E. , Ribeiro José E. L. S.
Published: September 2007

The rainforests of central Amazonia are some of the most species-rich tree communities on earth. In recent decades, forests in the central-Amazonian landscape have experienced highly non-random changes in dynamics and composition. These analyses are made on a network of eighteen permanent plots unaffected by any detectable disturbance. Within these plots, tree mortality, recruitment, and growth have increased over time. Of 115 relatively abundant tree genera, twenty-seven changed significantly in density or basal area — a value nearly fourteen times greater than that expected by chance. An independent, eight-year study in nearby forests corroborated these shifts in composition. Despite increasing tree mortality, pioneer trees did not increase in abundance, but genera of faster-growing trees, including many canopy and emergent species, are increasing in dominance or density, whereas genera of slower-growing trees, including many subcanopy species, are declining. Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations may explain these changes, although the effects of this and other large-scale environmental alterations have not been fully explored. These compositional changes could have important effects on the carbon storage, dynamics, and biota of Amazonian forests.
Late twentieth-century trends in the biomass of Amazonian forest plots
Authors: Baker Timothy R. , Phillips Oliver L. , Malhi Yadvinder , Almeida Samuel , Arroyo Luzmila , Fiore Anthony Di , Erwin Terry , Higuchi Niro , Killeen Timothy J. , Laurance Susan G. , Laurance William F. , Lewis Simon L. , Monteagudo Abel , Neill David A. , Vargas Percy Núnez , Pitman Nigel C. A. , Silva J. Natalino M. , Martínez Rodolfo Vásquez
Published: September 2007

This chapter discusses a previous study by Phillips et al. (1998) on biomass changes in Amazonian permanent sample plots which has been used to infer the presence of a regional carbon sink, generating vigorous debate about sampling and methodological issues. A new analysis of biomass change in old-growth Amazonian forest plots is presented here using new inventory data. It has been found that across fifty-nine sites, the above-ground dry biomass in trees of more than 10 cm in diameter has increased since plot establishment by about 1.22 Mg per hectare per year, or about 0.98 Mg per hectare per year if individual plot values are weighted by the number of hectare years of monitoring. This significant increase is not confounded by spatial or temporal variation in wood specific gravity, nor does it depend on the allometric equation used to estimate biomass. Overall, these results suggest a slightly greater rate of net stand-level change than reported in 1998, and indicate the presence of a significant regional-scale carbon sink in old-growth Amazonian forests during the past two decades.
The longevity and resilience of the Amazon rainforest
Authors: Maslin Mark
Published: September 2007

This chapter highlights and explains the impressive story of the persistence of the Amazonian rainforest throughout the Cenozoic. Palaeoclimate and palaeoecological records suggest that the Amazon rainforest originated in the late Cretaceous and has been a permanent feature of South America for at least the last 55 million years. During the late Palaocene the ‘rainforest’ or ‘megathermal moist forest’ (MTMF) may have stretched as far south as 45°S in South America. The main climatic feature of the last 55 million years has been global cooling and the general constriction of the megathermal moist forests to the tropics. However, the Amazon rainforest has survived the high temperatures of the early Eocene climate optimum and the aridity and low carbon dioxide levels of the Quaternary glacial periods. The Amazon rainforest should, therefore, not be viewed as a geologically ephemeral feature of South America, but rather as a constant feature of the global Cenozoic biosphere. The forest is now, however, entering a set of climatic conditions with no past analogue.
Multiple guilds
Authors: Wilkinson David M.
Published: September 2007

The problems faced by a hypothetical planet with only one species strongly suggest that any functioning ecological system must have organisms from at least two major ecological guilds: autotrophs and decomposers. While conventional predators do not seem to be crucial to planetary ecologies it is likely that parasites will quickly evolve, and through density dependent processes help to regulate population sizes. Density dependence may be crucial in preventing the runaway population growth of a species, leading to it monopolizing a planet's ecology. While density independent processes (be they a cold winter on a local scale, or the impact of a large meteorite at the planetary scale) can greatly affect abundance, they cannot provide regulation; this requires the ‘thermostat’ like behaviour of density dependence. As such, both multiple guilds and the presence of parasites are likely to have positive Gaian effects in most biospheres.
From processes to systems
Authors: Wilkinson David M.
Published: September 2007

This chapter draws together the various themes in the book and argues for the importance of a systems view of global ecology. It also briefly considers models which may help understand the evolution of Gaia, and considers the priorities of conservation biology from an Earth Systems perspective. It points out that a systems view of nature — replete with feedbacks — is a remarkably recent way of viewing the world, but one that is crucial to understanding the Earth system and the changes we are making to it.
CHERN–SIMONS THEORY AND KNOT INVARIANTS
Authors: Mariño Marcos
Published: September 2007

This chapter presents various aspects of Chern-Simons theory. In a groundbreaking paper, Witten (1989) showed that Chern-Simons gauge theory, which is a quantum field theory in three dimensions, provides a physical description of a wide class of invariants of three-manifolds and of knots and links in three-manifolds. The partition function and correlation functions of Wilson loops in Chern-Simons theory can be computed in a variety of ways. In order to define the partition function of Chern-Simons theory at the quantum level, one has to specify a framing of the three-manifold. It turns out that the evaluation of correlation functions also involves a choice of framing of the knots. A good starting point for understanding framing is to take Chern-Simons theory with gauge group U. The relation between Chern-Simons theory and string theory involves the vacuum expectation values of Wilson loop operators for arbitrary irreducible representations of U(N). This means that N has to be bigger than the number of boxes of any representation under consideration.
APPLICATIONS OF THE TOPOLOGICAL STRING/GAUGE THEORY CORRESPONDENCE
Authors: Mariño Marcos
Published: September 2007

This chapter considers two applications of the topological string/gauge theory correspondence. The first application is to Chern-Simons knot and link invariants, and the second application is to supersymmetric gauge theories in four dimensions. It was previously shown that Gromov-Witten invariants can be written in terms of integer, or BPS invariants, and that knot invariants can be interpreted as open string amplitudes. Putting these two things together, one finds that Chern-Simons knot invariants can be expressed in terms of new integer invariants, and this leads to some surprising structure results for the Chern-Simons invariants of knots. These structure results are made more precise and some examples are given.
THE ABSOLUTE POSITION OF EQUILIBRIA
Authors: Hinshelwood C. N.
Published: September 2007

This chapter discusses the state of equilibria. Topics covered include quantum statistics, absolute calculation of equilibria, absolute entropy of a monatomic gas, factors determining the balance of solid and vapour, transition temperatures, chemical equilibrium in gases, gaseous equilibrium constants from partition functions, factors determining the position of a gaseous equilibrium, and the equilibrium of radiation and matter.
THE NATURE OF ATOMS
Authors: Hinshelwood C. N.
Published: September 2007

This chapter discusses the structure of atoms. Topics covered include electrons, electron waves, the nuclear atom, atomic structure, energy levels, interpretation of quantum numbers, spectra and atomic structure in the light of quantum rules, atom building, quantum mechanical rules, the wave function, the transition of systems from one energy state to another, and the orthogonal property of wave functions.
FORCES BETWEEN MOLECULES AND BETWEEN IONS
Authors: Hinshelwood C. N.
Published: September 2007

This chapter discusses interatomic forces. Topics covered include Van der Waals forces, interaction of zero-point oscillations, the induction effect, orientation effects, attractions and repulsions, interionic forces (particularly in electrolyte solutions), and electrolyte activity.
FLUID SYSTEMS
Authors: Hinshelwood C. N.
Published: September 2007

This chapter discusses fluid systems. Topics covered include the liquid state, viscosity of liquids, solubility, solutions of electrolytes in water, electrical conductivity of solutions, and aqueous media and hydrogen-ion concentration.
INTRODUCTION
Authors: Hida Haruzo
Published: September 2007

This introductory chapter describes the deformation theoretic techniques of Wiles-Taylor for elliptic modular forms. The chapter concentrates mostly on the Galois side of the picture, recalling the basic definitions of Iwasawa modules, deformation theory, Iwasawa-theoretic Selmer groups of a nearly p-ordinary Galois representation, and L-invariants. Although Hilbert modular forms are not defined in this chapter, (p-adic families of) elliptic modular forms and their Galois representations are introduced. The main statements about the themes, which are developed later in the book, are stated in this elliptic modular setting, and sketches of the proof are given.
GEOMETRIC MODULAR FORMS
Authors: Hida Haruzo
Published: September 2007

This chapter discusses p-adic automorphic forms on Shimura variety from Springer, recalling the exact control theorem which connects the specialization (at a given weight) of the universal nearly ordinary Hecke algebra with the Hecke algebra of finite level of the given weight. A new result is presented relating the adjoint L-invariant (discussed in Chapter 3); the order of vanishing at s=1 of the adjoint L-function of a Hilbert modular automorphic representation r; and the extensions Ext(r,r) of the p-adic automorphic representation r.
Dangerous Truths: The Buddha on Silence, Secrecy and Snakes
Authors: Ganeri Jonardon
Published: September 2007

This chapter looks at the early Buddhist dialogues, the Nikāya. It explores the nature of the Buddha's teaching methods, the simile of the raft and the snake, and the Buddha's silences. It begins to investigate the distinction between the two truths, as well as the relation between these and the four noble truths.
Words That Break: Can an Upaniṣad State the Truth?
Authors: Ganeri Jonardon
Published: September 2007

This chapter looks at the discussion in Vedānta of a puzzle concerning the ability of the Upaniṣads to state the truth. The problem is that they appear to be false vehicles with true contents. The chapter also explores themes in Indian epistemology, including Śrīharsa's discussion of Gettier-like cases. The notion of a procedural use of reason is introduced and evaluated.
6 Investor Management
Authors: Martin Roderick , Casson Peter D. , Nisar Tahir M.
Published: September 2007

Managers seek to manage their relations with investors, as with other stakeholders. This chapter outlines three elements in managerial handling of investors. The first is the role of the board of directors, especially the role of non-executive directors. The second is the management of relations with actual or potential investors in the firm. The third is the management of relations with the investment community. It shows the pattern of interdependence between managers and investors, rather than dominance by either side.
New Professionals: Old Problems
Authors: Emsley Clive
Published: September 2007

This chapter charts the way in which the three types of police force delineated earlier developed in the closing years of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th. It traces their increasing professionalization and their adoption of various forms of scientific and technological aid. It notes too how they continued to interact with the media which, as ever, stressed the relatively rare but dramatic and shocking incident — the sexual murder, the brutal or romantic bandit — without noting the more common petty forms of offending. The chapter also draws attention to the continuing preference for old forms of community justice with offences, particularly in the more remote rural districts.
Policing and Punishing After the War
Authors: Emsley Clive
Published: September 2007

This chapter begins with an overview of the impact of the First World War on police institutions across Europe, noting how their numbers were depleted by the military demands of the conflict, and how their tasks increased often with a detrimental effect on their relations with the public. The developments in policing and punishment after the war are then contrasted. The contrasts and similarities in these areas between liberal democratic and authoritarian or ‘totalitarian’ societies are highlighted, and so too are the continuing links of criminal justice practitioners and policy makers, particularly through international conferences.
Lower bounds, contractivity, error estimates, and continuity
Authors: Vázquez Juan Luis
Published: September 2007

This chapter considers a number of bounds that complement the study so far, which was centred on upper bounds. The first section concerns the existence of lower bounds for non-negative solutions. There is a big difference between the ranges m > 1, m = 1, and m ≤ 1. In the first case, the property of finite propagation implies that solutions may travel at a bounded speed so that it will take a certain amount of time for a solution to become positive at points where it was initially zero. It is shown that this does not happen for m ≤ 1. The second section extends the property of contractivity in the L  1 norm into error estimates in different norms.
Improved analysis of the critical line. Delayed regularity
Authors: Vázquez Juan Luis
Published: September 2007

This chapter continues the analysis of the functional properties of the evolution semigroup generated by the FDE on the critical line, i.e., when m < mc and p assumes the critical value p* = n(1 - m)/2. The question addressed is boundedness, i.e., finding conditions on u0 under which function u(·, t) is bounded for all t > 0. The phenomenon of delayed regularity and immediate boundedness are discussed.
Extinction rates and asymptotics for 0 <m<mc
Authors: Vázquez Juan Luis
Published: September 2007

This chapter deals with the actual asymptotic behaviour of the solutions of the FDE in the exponent range 0 < m < mc. This behaviour depends on the class of initial data. The chapter is interested in ‘small solutions’ that extinguish in finite time, according to the results of Chapter 5. It concentrates on solutions that start with initial data in L  1(R  n), or solutions that fall into this class for positive times prior to extinction. In the range m < mc the ZKB solutions provide the clue to the asymptotics for all non-negative solutions with L  1-data.
Summary of main results for the PME/FDE
Authors: Vázquez Juan Luis
Published: September 2007

This chapter reviews the results of the preceding chapters, paying special attention to the variation of the results and effects on the main parameters m and n. This is interpreted in terms of the different diffusion power and propagation speed associated to the equation when m varies. The idea of comparison with the heat equation and its Gaussian kernel is always present. The chapter ends with a complete review of the existence of the natural extension of this object, i.e., the existence of source solutions for the whole family PME/FDE with m = 1. The concept of background signal is introduced.
3 Pindar and Psaumis: Olympians 4 and
Authors: Barrett W. S.
Published: September 2007

Olympians 4 and 5 were written for a certain Psaumis son of Akron, a citizen of Kamarina in Sicily. They raise two separate problems: first, the nature and date of the victories they celebrate; second, the authorship of Olympian 5. The one poem, Olympian 4, is certainly by Pindar; the authenticity of the other is open to serious doubt. This chapter discusses these two problems in the following order: first the victories, second the authorship of Olympian 5.
6 Pindar's Twelfth Olympian and the Fall of the Deinomenidai
Authors: Barrett W. S.
Published: September 2007

This chapter discusses Pindar's ode, Olympian 12, which celebrates a number of victories won by Ergoteles of Himera in Sicily. It is not in any proper sense an Olympian at all: the first victory mentioned was at Olympia, which is why the ode was classified by Aristophanes of Byzantium among the Olympians; but the most recent of the victories, the immediate occasion of the ode, was won not at Olympia but at Pytho.
8 Two Studies in Pindaric Metre
Authors: Barrett W. S.
Published: September 2007

Short ancipitia in Pindar's dactyloepitrites are more common in the first triad of an ode than in later triads: in first triads about one anceps in nine is short, in later triads about one in forty-six is the norm. But this observation gives only part of the picture: there a further sharp distinction can be drawn between the ancipitia in later triads. The facts, for Pindar's dactylo-epitrite epinikia, are these: Short anceps are not uncommon (a) in the first triad of an ode, (b) in responsion in a later triad, with short anceps in the first triad; in other situations it is rare and perhaps always associated with a proper name. This chapter discusses these issues.
16 A Detail of Tragic Usage: The Application to Persons of Verbal Nouns in -μα
Authors: Barrett W. S.
Published: September 2007

This chapter justifies an observation made discussing Th. 1022 (in the edict forbidding the burial of Polyneikes) μήθ' όμαρτείν τυμβοχόα χειρώματα. It argues that the only meaning the writer could have intended is ‘no slaves shall go with him to heap a mound’; and that this use of χειρώματα as a designation is one which has no adequate parallel in tragedy. ‘Although it is common [in tragedy] for verbal nouns in -μα to be used of persons, they appear in general not to be used (as χειρώματα would be here) to designate them, but only to characterize them, or to predicate something of them, when they are already designated by other means’. It is this that this chapter seeks to justify.
Generic Enrichment in Vergil and Horace
Authors: Harrison S. J.
Published: September 2007

This book responds to an important question of literary history: why did the period 40-13 BC in Rome produce such a rich range of complex poetical texts? The co-existence of great poets such as Vergil and Horace in contemporary literary circles, and the political stimulus and stability offered by the upheavals of the triumviral period and the following pax Augusta offer a sociological and historical background, but the concern here is with literary complexity and literary history. As has long been observed, generic concerns and generic mixtures are central to Augustan poetry. As has also been observed (e.g., in Kroll's formulation of the ‘crossing of genres’), this feature recalls the poetry of Ptolemaic Alexandria which offers many literary-historical parallels. Both were periods of literature where poets operated under the shadow of classical Greek predecessors, and strove for novelty, either by creating new genres or by varying existing ones through ‘contamination’ with other kinds of writing. Generic issues are examined through a double lens — that of ancient generic markers and that of modern genre theory — in an approach which owes much to the work of Gian Biagio Conte. The language and other characterizing patterns of ancient poetical genres constitute the basic material of this book, but some fundamental theoretical ideas are needed to categorize and order that material. How can we define a literary genre in ancient terms (e.g., should we follow Francis Cairns)? Is the attractive distinction between genres and modes made by Alastair Fowler of use for the poetry of Augustan Rome? The ultimate conclusion of this book is that many poetic genres were profoundly enriched in the Augustan period by close encounters with other genres. The emphasis is on texts and genres rather than authors, since the whole premiss of the study is that generic features, working within an established tradition, are more easily recovered than authorial intentions.
Intra‐Epic Debate: Vergil'sGeorgics
Authors: Harrison S.J.
Published: September 2007

Clearly transitional between the Eclogues and the Aeneid, this poem shows generic strain in its second half, especially in the proem to Book 3 with its anticipation of martial epic, and in the Aristaeus section at the end of Book 4, where the interplay of questions of literary form and political commitment is brilliantly explored (Homeric, neoteric, Hesiodic, Hellenistic).
Epic Inclusivity: Vergil'sAeneid
Authors: Harrison S.J.
Published: September 2007

The Aeneid is not just the culmination of all ancient epic traditions, but also exploits generic complexity to enrich its texture. Apart from the obvious but still underrated interface with tragedy, e.g., in the Dido-episode, there are encounters with many other non-epic styles (e.g., pastoral, didactic, elegy). As in the Odes, a classic and inimitable text is formed by generic enrichment.
Didacticism and Epistolarity in Horace's Epistles 1
Authors: Morrison A. D.
Published: September 2007

This chapter investigates how the ‘epistolarity’, the ‘letteriness’ of Horace's Epistles relates to and complements the didactic, instructive element of the book and vice versa. Horace is the first poet to compose or construct a book of verse-letters, a dedicated poetry-book in epistolary form, Epistles book 1 (in 20/19 BC). Epistles 1 also plays an important role in the development of ancient philosophical epistolography. It adapts, in part, the letters of Epicurus, and itself forms a model (along with those same letters of Epicurus) for Seneca's letters to Lucilius, but it also engages with Lucretius' philosophical didactic poem, the De Rerum Natura, as well as the figure and methods of the archetypal ancient philosopher, Socrates. In Epistles 1 Horace explicitly employs what can be usefully described as the ‘didactic mode’: the collection of letters contains very many imperatives, and other ‘imperatival expressions’, directing, instructing, and exhorting its internal addressees in various ways. In various parts of the different epistles, then, ‘Horace’, the narrator, seems to be teaching or advising his addressees.
Propertius 2. 10 and 11 and the Structure of Books ‘2a’ and ‘2b’ (1998)
Authors: Lyne R.O.A.M.
Published: September 2007

In this paper, Lyne identifies 2.10/11 as a single poem and as the close of one of the two ancient books that make up the transmitted Propertius Book 2, which he calls ‘Book 2a’. There is also a discussion of ‘Book 2b’, which he begins with 2.13.
1 Introduction
Authors: Terras Melissa M.
Published: September 2007

The texts from the Roman fort of Vindolanda are an unparalleled source of information regarding the Roman army for historians, linguists, palaeographers, and archaeologists. However, due to their physical state, the stylus tablets have proved almost impossible to read. This chapter provides an introduction to Vindolanda and the ink and stylus texts discovered there, and discusses developments in image processing that have allowed feature detection of the stylus tablets. An overview is given regarding this attempt to construct a computer system to aid the papyrologists in the reading of the stylus texts, the use of computing in the field of papyrology, and the use of Minimum Description Length (MDL) as a means to compare and contrast complex information within the field of image processing. An MDL based system, GRAVA, is introduced, which provides the architecture to generate possible interpretations of the text contained within images of the Vindolanda tablets.
Text and Context: Hermeneutical Prolegomena to Interpreting a Kant Text
Authors: Ameriks Karl
Published: September 2007

This chapter offers a general introductory argument for maintaining an authentically historical perspective on the main issues arising from the key texts of modern philosophy, and for approaching even the briefest subsections of these texts with sensitivity to their full historical context. Without denying the need for developing some kind of corrective to the overly historical approaches that still dominate continental philosophy, it is argued that it is important to counter stereotypical views of Anglophone philosophy and to try to explain why, after decades of neglect, historical considerations have also become central components in the writing of many leading late-20th-century analytic philosophers.
Reinhold's First Letters on Kant
Authors: Ameriks Karl
Published: September 2007

This chapter explains how Reinhold's Letters took the form of a ‘short’ Critique, which immediately after its publication was much more influential than the complex details of Kant's lengthy original. In the Letters, Reinhold simplified matters hugely by not venturing at all into the complexities of the Transcendental Aesthetic and Transcendental Analytic. He jumped ahead to the moral and historical implications of the end of the Dialectic, arguing that Kant's espousal of a Critical and moral form of rational religion was the ideal solution to the battles between supernaturalism and naturalism that were raging in Germany after Jacobi had ignited the Pantheism Dispute. Admitting that he was not yet tracing Kant's notion of pure practical reason and rational religion back to its ‘grounds’ in the first Critique, Reinhold satisfied himself and his audience with the claim that the ‘results’ of the Critique met the fundamental ‘need’ of the time (fully to satisfy popular Enlightenment morality through a hope in a ‘highest good’ warranted by rational religion) — just as Jesus had satisfied the ‘common sense’ of his time by turning dogmatic religion into rational morality.
People, Plants and Genes
Authors: Murphy Denis J
Published: September 2007

This book provides an overview of human-plant interactions and their social consequences, from the hunter-gatherers of the Palaeolithic Era to the 21st century molecular manipulation of crops. It links the latest advances in molecular genetics, climate research, and archaeology to give a new perspective on the evolution of agriculture and complex human societies across the world. Even today, our technologically advanced societies still rely on plants for basic food needs, not to mention clothing, shelter, medicines, and tools. This special relationship has tied together people and their chosen plants in mutual dependence for well over 50,000 years. Yet despite these millennia of intimate contact, people have only domesticated and cultivated a few dozen of the tens of thousands of edible plants. Crop domestication and agriculture then led directly to the evolution of the complex urban-based societies that have dominated much of human development over the past ten millennia. Thanks to the latest genomic studies, how, when, and where some of the most important crops came to be domesticated can now be explained, and the crucial roles of plant genetics, climatic change, and social organization in these processes. Indeed, it was their unique genetic organizations that ultimately determined which plants eventually became crops, rather than any conscious decisions by their human cultivators.
Plant management and agriculture
Authors: Murphy Denis J.
Published: September 2007

The onset of cooler, drier conditions after 25,000 BP favoured the spread of many large-grained grass species, especially in Eurasia and North Africa. These cereal species were increasingly exploited by groups, such as the semi-sedentary Ohalo culture in the Levant, who collected wild barley for grinding to baking in oven-like hearths. Relatively large amounts of wild cereals could be gathered and stored by small family groups to supplement other, more seasonal, foodstuffs. Cereals became less important in Eurasia during the climatic amelioration of the later Kerbaran period (c.15,000 BP), but were still being exploited by the Natufians when the climate suddenly deteriorated again at 12,800 BP. Non-agricultural management of wild plants is likely to have been a major food acquisition strategy for much of human history. It was often highly sophisticated, flexible, and more enduring than agriculture and is especially adaptive in resource-poor regions and/or in times of climatic change.
Fluid genomes, uncertain species, and the genetics of crop domestication
Authors: Murphy Denis J.
Published: September 2007

This chapter reviews new research findings that are changing our ideas of the nature of genomes and of biological species. All genomes, from bacteria to humans, are constantly changing with DNA being added and lost, frequently between different species. Some species, including many crops, contain over 90% non-coding ‘extra DNA’. This DNA was originally believed to be parasitic or non-functional, but is now increasingly recognized as having many important roles in the development of organisms from rice to humans. Thanks to molecular genetics, the species concept is becoming less useful, especially in many plants, as the increasingly blurred boundaries between supposedly distinct species are recognized. It is now clear that the detailed genome organization of our major crops, particularly the close physical linkages between domestication syndrome genes, was a major contributor to their amenability to cultivation by early farmers.
The domestication of cereal crops
Authors: Murphy Denis J.
Published: September 2007

By 10 million years ago, the major cereal groups had diverged from each other and were distributed across the world. Many of these grassy plants have remained recalcitrant to domestication, but thanks to their unusual genomic architectures, a few of the larger grained species were able to adapt to cultivation during the early Neolithic period to become our most important crop plants. The major cereal crops in the Near East were the wheat/barley/rye groups, which included many polyploid hybrids, especially among the wheats. In eastern Asia, rice and millets were the first cereals to be farmed, while in Africa sorghum and several millet species were cultivated. The major American cereal was maize, which was initially domesticated from teosinte to form small-cob maize in a relatively rapid process that was followed by several millennia of slow increases in cob length that eventually resulted in the high yielding crop of today.
Evolution of agrourban cultures: III Africa, Europe, and the Americas
Authors: Murphy Denis J.
Published: September 2007

From 8,000-5,500 BP, the African Sahara was a centre for domestication of millets and sorghum. Agriculture in the region was extinguished following a sustained drought after 5,450 BP, but may have contributed to the development of the Nile Valley as one of the greatest agro-urban cultures of the ancient world. In Central Europe, after 8,500 BP, farming was introduced by migrants from the Near East who slowly travelled northwestwards along the fertile river valleys from the Balkans towards the Atlantic coast. Other seaborne migrants brought farming to southern Europe via the Mediterranean. Complex urban cultures did not develop in this region for many millennia. Agro-urban cultures developed separately in Mesoamerica, the Andes, and parts of North America once the indigenous crops could be cultivated under high yield conditions. Social collapse and simplification occurred repeatedly in several parts of the continent, probably due to a combination of climatic and social factors.
Crop management in the classical and medieval periods
Authors: Murphy Denis J.
Published: September 2007

The classical and medieval periods of 1800 BCE to 1500 CE were characterized by some limited technical innovation in agriculture, but little progress was made in crop improvement as global populations ceased their expansion, which had been occurring since the early Holocene. Babylonian and Assyrian imperial rulers established a much-copied precedent of introducing new crops from conquered regions and in producing manuals for agricultural management. From 500 to 50 BCE, Greek naturalists began systematically to study plant biology and publish their findings, but this first blooming of scientific methodology proved short lived. Later cultures tended to reinterpret old knowledge rather than create it anew. From 700 CE, the expanding Muslim empires introduced many improvements into Mediterranean farming from the Near East, most notably in their Iberian realm of Al Andalus. Medieval farming in Europe was relatively stagnant and declined further after 1320 CE during the Little Ice Age.
Anatomy of Cluster Development: Emergence and Convergence in the US Human Biotherapeutics, 1976–2003
Authors: Romanelli Elaine , Feldman Maryann
Published: September 2007

This chapter examines the spatial and temporal dimension of a variety of forms of entrepreneurship across cities in the United States in the human biotherapeutics. The first finding is that clusters grow predominantly through the investments of local entrepreneurs, local firms, and local venture capitalists. Second, for three of the regions with the largest clusters — San Diego, Boston, and San Francisco — the critical spur to growth appears to be a tendency of entrepreneurs to leave local, established firms to found additional firms. Moreover, only those regions, however, that exhibited this secondary, or second-generation growth grew to substantial sizes relative to other clusters. The attraction of entrepreneurs and firms to a region is a tertiary influence on growth, occurring late in the history of the industry and the clusters.
Policy-Induced Clusters: The Genesis of Biotechnology Clustering on the East Coast of China
Authors: Prevezer Martha , Tang Han
Published: September 2007

The Chinese government has the ambition to develop China into a globally leading biotech nation. The genesis of three major biotechnology clusters along the east coast of China is considered in this chapter. Two main phases are distinguished in the evolution of government policy with respect to these clusters. A preceding phase is mainly concerned with institutional reform, creating new forms of property rights, setting out strategic programmes for the development of the biotechnology, and building up the appropriate knowledge base. Partly as a result of these policies, the entry of companies into the biotech clusters in each region more than doubled during the period 1995-2003 as compared to the period before 1995. Scientists returning from abroad frequently founded the new companies formed in the latter period.
The Emergence of a European Biotechnology Cluster: The Case of Medicon Valley
Authors: Braunerhjelm Pontus , Helgesson Christian
Published: September 2007

This chapter examines the forces that sparked the emergence of a leading European biotechnology cluster — Medicon Valley. This cluster displays one characteristic feature which separates it from most other biotechnology clusters: its geographical location stretches over two countries: parts of Sweden and Denmark. The emergence of the Medicon Valley biotechnology cluster seems to have followed a somewhat different path than the biotech clusters in the United States. Whereas entrepreneurs orchestrated the emergence of clusters in the United States, universities played a crucial role in the Medicon Valley case and entrepreneurs entered — and reinforced — the process in a later stage. The more dynamic and fast growing biotechnology sector in Denmark is argued to be partly policy driven, partly associated with cultural differences.
The Emergence of Israel's Venture Capital Industry: How Policy Can Influence High-Tech Cluster Dynamics
Authors: Avnimelech Gil , Teubal Morris
Published: September 2007

This chapter documents the emergence of the Israeli venture capital (VC) industry. The process is divided into three phases that spread out over three decades and it is also a vital part of Israel's innovation and technology policy. There was a deliberate policy that targeted VC — besides the importance of bringing in foreign expertise at an early stage, is the importance of designing policy in a way that reassures the existence of a sufficient knowledge base. Moreover, the successful launching of a VC industry hinges on a critical mass of technology-based start-ups for a robust demand side. A truly innovative part in Israel's policy was the inclusion of a mechanism from the very start for the government to withdraw and privatize the venture capital funds.
Local Antecedents and Trigger Events: Policy Implications of Path Dependence for Cluster Formation
Authors: Wolfe David A. , Gertler Meric S.
Published: September 2007

This chapter considers the degree of path dependency in cluster origin and development. One issue that continues to bedevil the analysis of clusters is the question of their origins and the relative importance of chance events, or serendipity as opposed to planned policy actions. Much of the literature on path dependency, and a certain stream of analysis in the literature on clusters, suggests that they are frequently seeded by chance events or by policy initiatives that frequently had a different intention than the support and development of a cluster. This chapter presents a more nuanced view where more weight is allocated to the role of policies in generating and developing clusters.
10 Juan II, a Monarch Beset
Authors: Ryder Alan
Published: September 2007

This chapter focuses on Juan II, who inherited the throne of Aragon following the death of Alfonso. On his first appearance as sovereign in Catalonia, Juan dispelled all doubt as to his stance on the peasant issue. Realizing that Juan was no better disposed towards them than his brother had been, the reactionary forces in Catalonia began to seek ways of imposing their will upon him.
11 The Drawing of Swords
Authors: Ryder Alan
Published: September 2007

This chapter focuses on the struggle between two hostile factions for the allegiance of Girona, with each proclaiming the remensa crisis to be at the forefront of its concerns. On one side was Queen Juana who was able to make a great show of her professed determination to suppress disorder in a series of measures directed against remensa violence and rejection of legal obligations. On the other side were the Diputació, and the Council, the bodies claiming to represent Catalonia.
16 The Castilian Marriage
Authors: Ryder Alan
Published: September 2007

This chapter focuses on the king of Aragon's interest in Castile, not only as an immediate source of salvation, but as the kingdom where lay his dynastic roots and ambition. With mastery over it, towards which he had struggled all his life, the Crown of Aragon needed fear no foe. He could achieve a goal that had long tantalized his family: take the crown of Castile from the senior branch, which had produced a catastrophic series of kings, into the resolute hands of the junior Trastámares.
Sexual size dimorphism in birds
Authors: Székely Tamás , Lislevand Terje , Figuerola Jordi
Published: September 2007

Birds provide excellent model organisms for testing functional explanations of sexual size dimorphism (SSD), since many species are exceptionally well-studied in nature. This chapter reviews four major functional hypotheses of SSD, and tests these using data on five morphometric traits from over 2,500 bird species. This comprehensive analysis reveals that SSD is male-biased in most avian species and families, and that allometry consistent with Rensch's rule occurs in significantly more avian families than expected by chance. Using cross-species analyses, the chapter shows that the pattern of SSD is most consistent with patterns of sexual selection, specifically with the Mating competition and the Display agility hypotheses. Sexual selection, however, is unlikely to explain all variation in SSD, and further work is essential on ecological use of resources and fecundity selection.
The evolution of sexual size dimorphism in reptiles
Authors: Cox Robert M. , Butler Marguerite A. , John-Alder Henry B.
Published: September 2007

Most studies interpret reptilian sexual size dimorphism (SSD) as a means to reducing resource competition by way of sexual selection, fecundity selection, and natural selection. This chapter assesses the importance of these processes using data on 832 species of snakes, lizards, and turtles. The data reveal allometry consistent with Rensch's rule in most, but not all reptilian taxa, and support the hypothesis that sexual selection for large male size has influenced the evolution of reptile SSD. However, more data on male combat and territoriality are needed to test more fully this hypothesis. Although fecundity increases with female body size in many reptiles, comparative data provide only weak support for the fecundity advantage of large female size. The chapter concludes that further progress in assessing the relative importance of different selective processes in reptiles will require studies that more fully integrate evolutionary hypotheses with knowledge of proximate physiological and developmental mechanisms.
Sexual size dimorphism in spiders: patterns and processes
Authors: Foellmer Matthias W. , Moya-Laraño Jordi
Published: September 2007

This chapter uses data for 489 spider species from fifteen families to describe patterns of variation in sexual size dimorphism (SSD), and to evaluate hypotheses explaining these patterns. The direction and magnitude of SSD is found to depend strongly on the size measure chosen, and the use of carapace width is recommended because it is less affected by condition than body mass or length. Comparative analyses reveal that spiders do not exhibit allometry consistent with Rensch's rule. Instead, females appear to have diverged more than males over evolutionary time, and male and female body size show uncorrelated co-evolution, which is unusual for animals. Only two adaptive hypotheses — fecundity selection favouring large size in females and gravity selection favouring small size in males — have general explanatory power for patterns of SSD in spiders. However, processes may differ among species and comprehensive studies of selection within given species are needed.
Case studies of the differential-equilibrium hypothesis of sexual size dimorphism in two dung fly species
Authors: Blanckenhorn Wolf U.
Published: September 2007

This chapter describes studies on two common dung fly species with contrasting sexual size dimorphism (SSD): females are the larger sex in Sepsis cynipsea but the smaller sex in Scathophaga stercoraria. In both species, there is overwhelming evidence for sexual and fecundity selection favouring large body size, but only sparse evidence for selection favouring small size in either sex. The absence of evidence of net balancing selection on either sex does not support the differential equilibrium model of SSD. For the yellow dung fly, S. stercoraria, the efforts taken to detect selection against large individuals were substantial, including multiple viability selection estimates covering a wide and representative range of environmental conditions and artificial extension by artificial selection of the body size range available. Therefore, undetected selection favouring small size is unlikely. Phylogenetic, genetic, or developmental constraints are also unlikely to be responsible for lack of support of the differential equilibrium model in dung flies, but physiological constraints have not yet been properly addressed.
Phylogenetic analysis of sexual dimorphism in eye-lid geckos (Eublepharidae): the effects of male combat, courtship behavior, egg size, and body size
Authors: Kratochvíl Lukáš , Frynta Daniel
Published: September 2007

This chapter summarizes research on sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in eye-lid geckos (Eublepharidae) by integrating morphological, behavioural, and life-history data, and using phylogenetic analyses to determine which variable(s) may explain SSD. These comparisons reveal that male combat has disappeared twice within this family, and both events were associated with losses of male scent glands and male-biased head size dimorphism, which is consistent with the predictions of sexual selection theory. Evolutionary changes in male-male aggression, in the complexity of courtship display, or in relative egg size were not correlated with reversals from male-biased to female-biased SSD. Eublepharids demonstrate Rensch's rule, since in small species females tend to be larger whereas in large species males are larger. An explanation of this common allometric pattern will be necessary for a full understanding of SSD in this family.
Irreconcilable differences: when sexual dimorphism fails to resolve sexual conflict
Authors: Bedhomme Stéphanie , Chippindale Adam K.
Published: September 2007

This chapter discusses the relationship between sexual conflict and sexual dimorphism. It presents evidence that intralocus sexual conflict is a widespread and potentially important contributor to several basic evolutionary phenomena, including the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Accumulating evidence suggests that intralocus sexual conflict creates a significant gender load in populations, reducing fitness in both sexes and preventing or slowing attainment of sex-specific optimal trait values. The chapter argues that the complexities of tuning individual gene expression to each sex separately explain why sexual dimorphism usually produces intergradation between the sexes, and why there is so much diversity in sexual form, function, and preference. However, in spite of these important effects, intralocus sexual conflict is expected to be difficult to detect and quantify. The chapter discusses these problems and presents prospects for future research directions.
Gilbert Murray and Greek Religion
Authors: Parker Robert
Published: September 2007

This chapter discusses Murray's writing on Greek religion between 1907 and 1915, showing how he saw in it as imaginative ideal which reflected was his in own mixture of rationalism and aspirational agnosticism. The following works — A History of Ancient Greek Literature, The Rise of the Greek Epic, and Four Stages in Greek Religion — are analysed.
Gilbert Murray's Greek Editions
Authors: Collard Christopher
Published: September 2007

This chapter considers the different aspects of Murray's engagement with Greek texts. It examines Murray's textual editing, an area of his work which is conventionally dismissed, and even ignored. These include his editing of Euripides and the Aeschylus.
Retrieving Cosmos: Gilbert Murray's Thought on International Relations
Authors: Wilson Peter
Published: September 2007

This chapter takes a retrospective look at the international political thought of Gilbert Murray, ninety years after his first substantial work on the subject was published (1915), and nearly sixty years after his last (1948). The disciplinary tradition of International Relations (IR) is used to draw up a balance sheet of achievement and failure. It is shown that while Murray played an important role in the establishment of IR, and while he worked closely with several early IR professors, he was not an IR professor himself, and certainly no theorist in today's sense.