Exotic plant invasion in the highly degraded upland landscape of Hong Kong, China

Plant communities in the continental tropics have suffered less from exotic plant invasions than their oceanic island counterparts. Most studies have focused on near-pristine communities. By contrast, we examine the resistance of semi-natural continental plant communities in Hong Kong, which have been suffering from chronic and massive human impacts. We compiled a list of all naturalized non-native species recorded in Hong Kong and then sampled the plant communities for exotic species along roadsides, a stream through semi-natural vegetation, and in semi-natural vegetation away from both roads and streams on Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong’s highest peak (957 m). Similar surveys were repeated in other areas of Hong Kong. More than 162 naturalized exotic plant species have been recorded in Hong Kong. On Tai Mo Shan, 29 exotic species were recorded in roadside vegetation, with the diversity but not percentage cover declining significantly with altitude. Fifteen exotic species were found along the stream, including two not found along the roadside. Only six exotic species were found away from roads and streams, all in unshaded areas disturbed by feral cattle. In all surveys, no exotics were found in closed woody vegetation or in open areas without feral cattle, except for one species. The shade-tolerant tropical Asian tree Syzygium jambos was found invading along some streamsides without anthropogenic disturbance. Despite centuries of massive human impacts, exotic plant invasions in Hong Kong are still largely confined to habitats that suffer from chronic human disturbance. Feral cattle promote invasion where people are absent, but this problem still seems potentially reversible. Only Syzygium jambos is of possible current conservation concern.     

Shan Calendrical Systems: The Everyday Use of Esoteric Knowledge

In this paper I examine the Shan calendrical system as an aspect of exoteric knowledge. To do this I first place the communities I lived in and the experts I consulted in the context of Shan communities and Shan experts. Next I provide a brief account of the Shan calendrical system as I learned it from local experts. I then discuss what everyday people know about the system and age and gender variation in the extent of knowledge. In order to understand this variation. I briefly describe Shan conception of knowledge and power and the place of Buddhism in this system. I go on to explore how one acquires expert status, how experts use calendrical knowledge, and why people consult experts.     

Anger Regulation in Traumatized Cambodian Refugees: The Perspectives of Buddhist Monks

Recent research has highlighted the importance of traditional methods of healing in relation to the treatment of psychological distress in non-Western populations. This pilot study, conducted in Massachusetts, investigates what Buddhist Cambodian monks consider to be the causes, phenomenology and appropriate intervention strategies for anger among Cambodian refugees. Six monks were interviewed at four major temples in Massachusetts. Findings suggested that anger was common in the Cambodian community, was frequently triggered by marital discord, and commonly resulted in verbal and physical violence and, sometimes, suicidality. Buddhist-based anger management strategies identified as useful by the monks included education about Buddhist doctrines, mindfulness meditation practices, and the use of herbal medication and holy water. These anger regulation strategies and treatments are discussed in the context of Buddhist beliefs and Western psychological interventions.     

Ideologies of aid, practices of power: lessons for Medicaid managed care

The articles in this special issue teach valuable lessons based on what happened in New Mexico with the shift to Medicaid managed care. By reframing these lessons in broader historical and cultural terms with reference to aid programs, we have the opportunity to learn a great deal more about the relationship between poverty, public policy, and ideology. Medicaid as a state and federal aid program in the United States and economic development programs as foreign aid provide useful analogies specifically because they exhibit a variety of parallel patterns. The increasing concatenation of corporate interests with state and nongovernmental interests in aid programs is ultimately producing a less centralized system of power and responsibility. This process of decentralization, however, is not undermining the sources of power behind aid efforts, although it does make the connections between intent, planning, and outcome less direct. Ultimately, the devolution of power produces many unintended consequences for aid policy. But it also reinforces the perspective that aid and the need for it are nonpolitical issues.     

Gesundheit und Ernährung: Die Macht der Kultur

Health and nutrition: The power of cultural patterns Despite enormous educational efforts and widely spread common knowledge about the subject, today's nutrition as it is practiced by many consumer groups concerning health in Germany, shows great potential to be optimized. On one side this is due to a cognitive dissonance: The knowledge about a healthy nutrition is opposed to a practice that is often detrimental to health. Among other factors, the main reasons for that phenomenon can be found within psychological aspects of nutrition: Practices that are tried and tested have a stabilizing effect and lead to emotional security. On the other side nutritional systems in principle change slowly and are difficult to control, especially since food itself and communicating about it function as ideological placings, as a representation of status or are matter of distinction in a society driven by modern lifestyles. Oftentimes supposedly reasonable nutritional practices hardly show any commonalities with these realities. Furthermore people who live in Germany but who were socialized with a different cultural background tend to have conceptions of a valuable nutrition that are often contradictorily to scientific findings. That also counts for people who obtain information from internet platforms that are not scientifically oriented. There they pick up superficial knowledge, esoteric beliefs or ideology‐based hints delivered through a science‐based appearance.     

A Hierarchy of Time-Scales and the Brain

In this paper, we suggest that cortical anatomy recapitulates the temporal hierarchy that is inherent in the dynamics of environmental states. Many aspects of brain function can be understood in terms of a hierarchy of temporal scales at which representations of the environment evolve. The lowest level of this hierarchy corresponds to fast fluctuations associated with sensory processing, whereas the highest levels encode slow contextual changes in the environment, under which faster representations unfold. First, we describe a mathematical model that exploits the temporal structure of fast sensory input to track the slower trajectories of their underlying causes. This model of sensory encoding or perceptual inference establishes a proof of concept that slowly changing neuronal states can encode the paths or trajectories of faster sensory states. We then review empirical evidence that suggests that a temporal hierarchy is recapitulated in the macroscopic organization of the cortex. This anatomic-temporal hierarchy provides a comprehensive framework for understanding cortical function: the specific time-scale that engages a cortical area can be inferred by its location along a rostro-caudal gradient, which reflects the anatomical distance from primary sensory areas. This is most evident in the prefrontal cortex, where complex functions can be explained as operations on representations of the environment that change slowly. The framework provides predictions about, and principled constraints on, cortical structure–function relationships, which can be tested by manipulating the time-scales of sensory input.     

Asthma episodes: stigma, children, and Hollywood films

Asthma has been systematically stigmatized in Hollywood feature films, including films seen by children. Through content analysis of 66 movies containing one or more scenes showing asthma, and through informant interviews with a dozen U.S. children about representative scenes, the study explores how stigmatizing portrayals are interpreted, accepted, or resisted. Children suffering from asthma actively counterargued with incriminating excerpts, but in some respects their healthy friends were less critical. Overall, children viewed stigmatizing scenes in terms of the social interaction and the social ethics entailed. They did not scrutinize the characters for damaged selfhood, per se, but dwelled on the social processes out of which stigma is erected.     

Reductions in connectivity and habitat quality drive local extinctions in a plant diversity hotspot

It is well documented that habitat loss is a major cause of biodiversity decline. However, the roles of the different aspects of habitat loss in local extinctions are less understood. Anthropogenic destruction of an area of habitat causes immediate local extinction but subsequently three additional gradual drivers influence the likelihood of delayed extinction: decreased habitat patch size, lower connectivity and habitat deterioration. We investigated the role of these drivers in local extinctions of 82 declining species in a UK biodiversity hotspot. We combined a unique set of ≈ 7000 vegetation surveys and habitat maps from the 1930s with contemporary species’ occurrences. We extrapolated from these surveys to the whole 2500‐km² study area using habitat suitability surfaces. The strengths of drivers in explaining local extinctions over this 70 yr period were determined by contrasting connectivity, patch size and habitat quality loss for locations at which a species went extinct and those with persisting occurrences. Species’ occurrences declined on average by 60%, with half of local extinctions attributable to immediate habitat loss and half to the gradual processes causing delayed extinctions. On average, locations where a species persisted had a 73% higher contemporary connectivity than those suffering extinctions, but showed no differences in historical connectivity. Furthermore, locations with extinctions experienced a 37% greater decline in suitability associated with changes in habitat type. The strength of the drivers and the proportion of extinctions depended on the species’ habitat specialism, but were affected only minimally by life‐history characteristics. In conclusion, we identified a hierarchy of drivers influencing local extinction: with connectivity loss being the strongest, suitability change being moderately important, but changes in habitat patch size having only weak effects. We suggest conservation efforts could be most effective by strengthening connectivity along with reducing habitat deterioration, which would benefit a wide range of species.     

‘Socialism,nations and international cooperation’ (a report on the round table ‘87 conference held at Cavtat,Yugoslavia, October 1987)

Ethnic ideologies, comprised of selective reflections on past, present and future plights of a community within a given context, arise or are modified at certain historical junctures often marked by rapid social change. Religious concepts, values and practices may play fundamental roles in the formation of such ideologies, since they provide points of reference or legitimations which hold considerable affective power among community members. These religious components of ethnic ideology, moreover, are by no means fixed; they may be reformulated in multifold ways in relation to contextual change. This article explores these notions by way of a history of Hinduism in Trinidad, and particularly, through an examination of the contemporary Hindu youth movement. It is shown that Hindu ethnic ideology in Trinidad has been historically forged through a sequence of different circumstances in the past, and that the current movement represents an exemplary case demonstrating the relation of religion and ethnic ideology.     

Speciesism Predicts Prejudice Against Low-Status and Hierarchy-Attenuating Human Groups

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that attitudes toward nonhuman animals correlate with attitudes toward disadvantaged human groups. It has been suggested that the connection rests in the ideology of social dominance. Endorsement of social hierarchy and intergroup domination is thought to extend to both human intergroup and human– animal contexts. The present research tested this reasoning by examining the scope and basis of the relation between speciesism and human inter-group attitudes. It was hypothesized that speciesism would predict less positive attitudes toward low-status groups (e.g., disadvantaged ethnic minorities) and those who support social change (e.g., feminists) but that it would be uncorrelated with attitudes toward stigmatized groups that are unmarked by social status (e.g., atheists). Two studies (Study 1, n = 98; Study 2, n = 82) tested this prediction using survey measures of speciesism, social dominance orientation, and attitudes toward 31 human groups including those noted above. Participants were first- and second-year university students in a mid-sized university in Ontario, Canada. As hypothesized, in both studies speciesism predicted less positive attitudes primarily toward low-status groups and groups that support social change. Further, relations between speciesism and intergroup attitudes were explained by their shared connection with social dominance orientation. These data contribute to the growing body of evidence showing links between speciesism and prejudice by illustrating that their shared emphasis on support for social hierarchy gives rise to a specific pattern of intergroup attitudes—one that supports inequality.     

The impact of environmental fluctuations on structured discrete time population models: resonance, synchrony and threshold behaviour

External forcing of a discrete time ecological system does not just add variation to existing dynamics but can change the dynamics. We study the mechanisms that can bring this about, focusing on the key concepts of excitation and suppression which emerge when analysing the power spectra of the system in linear approximation. Excitation, through resonance between the system dynamics and the external forcing, is the greater the closer the system is to the boundary of the stability region. This amplification means that the extinction of populations becomes possible sooner than expected and, conversely, invasion can be significantly delayed. Suppression and the consequent redistribution of power within the spectrum proves to be a function both of the connectivity of the network graph of the system and the way that external forcing is applied to the system. It is also established that colour in stochastic forcing can have a major impact, by enhancing resonance and by greater redistribution of power. This can mean a higher risk of extinction through larger fluctuations in population numbers and a higher degree of synchrony between populations. The implications of external forcing for stage-structured species, for populations in competition and for trophic web systems are studied using the tools and concepts developed in the paper.     

Learning the ecological niche

A cornerstone of ecological theory is the ecological niche. Yet little is known about how individuals come to adopt it: whether it is innate or learned. Here, we report a cross-fostering experiment in the wild where we transferred eggs of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, to nests of great tits, Parus major, and vice versa, to quantify the consequences of being reared in a different social context, but in an environment otherwise natural to the birds. We show that early learning causes a shift in the feeding niche in the direction of the foster species and that this shift lasts for life (foraging conservatism). Both species changed their feeding niches, but the change was greater in the great tit with its less specialized feeding behaviour. The study shows that cultural transmission through early learning is fundamental to the realization of ecological niches, and suggests a mechanism to explain learned habitat preference and sympatric speciation in animals.     

Evaluation of a radar-activated,demand-performance bird hazing system

We evaluated a radar-activated integrated hazing system for the protection of waterfowl at large contaminated ponds at a power plant. The hazing devices in the system included acoustic alarm calls, pyrotechnics and chemical repellents dispersed in the form of a bird tear-gas. Unlike, timed interval systems, or systems with random activation sequences, birds did not habituate to the demand-performance system tested. Over the course of a year, we documented that waterfowl were 12.5 times less likely to fly over the hazed contaminated ponds relative to a non-hazed control pond. Of the waterfowl that did fly over both ponds, the likelihood of landing on the hazed contaminated pond was 4.2 times less relative to the control. Hazing also altered the flight direction and altitude of waterfowl. Mortality during the year the hazing system was in place decreased by a factor 6.5 relative to previous years where the system was not in operation. Demand-performance integrated hazing systems show promise in protecting large areas where placement of operators is not practical for logistic, safety, or long-term cost reasons.     

甘肃白龙江流域鸡皮衣属地衣的研究

<正> 1 INTRODUCTION Bailong River, a tributary of Jialing River belonging to the Yangtse River system, is located in the southern part of Gansu Province and the northeast rimland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with total length of over 600km and drainage area of about 31,800km~2. Originating from Dagcanglhamo, Luqu     

Kiyang-yang,a West-African Postwar Idiom of Distress

In 1984, a healing cult for young barren women in southern Guinea Bissau developed into a movement, Kiyang-yang, that shook society to its foundations and had national repercussions. “Idiom of distress” is used here as a heuristic tool to understand how Kiyang-yang was able to link war and post-war-related traumatic stress and suffering on both individual and group levels. An individual experience born from a traumatic origin may be generalized into an idiom that diverse sectors of society could embrace for a range of related reasons. We argue that, for an idiom to be understood and appropriated by others, there has to be resonance at the level of symbolic language and shared experiences as well as at the level of the culturally mediated contingent emotions it communicates. We also argue that through its symbolic references to structural causes of suffering, an idiom of distress entails a danger for those in power. It can continue to exist only if its etiology is not exposed or the social suffering it articulates is not eliminated. We finally argue that idioms of distress are not to be understood as discrete diagnostic categories or as monodimensional expressions of “trauma” that can be addressed.     

Competing Models of Stability in Complex, Evolving Systems: Kauffman vs. Simon

I criticize Herbert Simon's argument for the claim that complex natural systems must constitute decomposable, mereological or functional hierarchies. The argument depends on certain assumptions about the requirements for the successful evolution of complex systems, most importantly, the existence of stable, intermediate stages in evolution. Simon offers an abstract model of any process that succeeds in meeting these requirements. This model necessarily involves construction through a decomposable hierarchy, and thus suggests that any complex, natural, i.e., evolved, system is constituted by a decomposable hierarchy. I argue that Stuart Kauffman's recent models of genetic regulatory networks succeed in specifying processes that could meet Simon's requirements for evolvability without requiring construction through a decomposable hierarchy. Since Kauffman's models are at least as plausible as Simon's model, Simon's argument that complex natural systems must constitute decomposable, mereological or functional hierarchies does not succeed.     

Valorizing racial boundaries: Hegemony and conflict in the racialization of Filipino migrant labour in the United States

This article analyses the growth of a new revivalist, internationally orientated Islam in Tower Hamlets. It moves beyond discussions of identity to look at the roles of ideology and socio-economic background, and to assess the effect of the new identities and ideologies on social and political action. It looks at why young Bengalis are being increasingly attracted to Islam, and at how this can benefit both themselves and the wider Bengali community; and it also explores where the impact of the new Islam is less positive, ending with an examination of the limits of its power as a vehicle for radical change in a deprived area of London. The article is based on interviews carried out in 2000 and 2001 as part of a wider historical study of political mobilization of Jewish and Bengali immigrants in London's East End.     

The Effect of temperature gradient on the transport phenomenon in roots of maize plants grown under salinity conditions. substance,heat, and ion flows

An analysis of flows through primary root and first node root tissues of plants grown under conditions of salinity and nutrient deficiency induced by temperature gradients was carried out using. a mathematical model. The results obtained show that high KNO₃ concentration in Knop’s nutrient solution (salinity) causes an inhibition of volume and heat flows and that the omission of KNO₃ from Knop’s nutrient solution (deficiency) stimulates these flows. The causes of the inhibition lay in the fact that salinity reduced hydraulic, electric, and osmotic conductivity when compared with the control (Knop’s solution), but relative to nutrient deficiency, it increased osmotic conductivity, electrodiffusion, diffusion, and filtration of heat flow induced by the electric and heat power. The causes of the stimulation were that deficiency partially decreased conductivities, similarly as salinity when compared with the control, and also decreased osmotic abilities of the system. By contrast, it increased heat conductivity and corresponding filtrations (diffusion-thermal, thermoosmotic). In first node root tissues, it increased all conductivities with the exception of electric conductivity, then osmotic, electroosmotic, diffusion, electrodiffusion, and filtration of heat flow and current flow, that is the number of possible ways of solution transport through root tissues increased. Part II.