Determinants of Ecological Footprints: What is the role of globalization?

This paper empirically analyzes the ecological consequences of globalization, by employing the Ecological Footprint (EF) as a proxy for human ecological demands and the KOF index of Globalization. We develop an unbalanced data set covering 146 countries over the 1981–2009 period and are thus able to address the influence of countries’ development over time. After empirically showing that globalization is an explanatory factor of ecological demands, an Extreme Bounds Analysis (EBA) identifies a robust set of impact factors. Subsequently, specific hypotheses on economic, political, social and overall globalization guide the empirical analysis. The findings suggest that economic globalization drives the EF of consumption, production, imports and exports. Social globalization correlates negatively with the EF of consumption and production, while increasing the EF of imports and exports. No effects are found for political globalization while overall globalization is positively correlated with EFs of imports and exports. The findings show that globalization may have different effects on EFs depending on the dimension (consumption, production, exports and imports) referred to.     

Likelihood ratio tests for a mixture of two von Mises distributions

It is proposed that the orientation of elongate objects, such as bones, may be used to identify the flow direction of ancient river deposits. If true, elongate objects could be of great value when ancient bedforms such as ripples and dunes are not visible. Two sandstone quarries were investigated wherein the paleoflow direction was determined from both bedforms and elongate dinosaur bones. A mixture of two von Mises distributions captures the observation that elongate bones transported under unidirectional flow conditions will align both parallel and perpendicular to the flow direction. Likelihood ratio tests for a mixture of two von Mises distributions are given. The power of these tests is investigated by simulation since the direction of dinosaur bones agrees with the primary bedforms if the hypothesis test comparing the dominant mean direction of the bones to the paleoflow direction fails to reject. The likelihood ratio test on the dominant mean direction has reasonable power. If the two mean directions in the mixture distribution are pi apart, a more powerful likelihood ratio test can be used. The likelihood ratio test on the hypothesis that the two mean directions are exactly pi apart is useful in determining if the assumptions of the more powerful test are satisfied.     

Definition, Objectives, and Evaluation of Natural Attenuation

Natural attenuation offers large benefits to owners and managers of contaminated sites, but often raises strong objections from those who live and work near a site and are asked to assume most of the long-term risks. Part of the controversy comes about because published definitions of natural attenuation do not identify a realistic end-point objective, and they also are ambiguous about the naturally occurring processes that can achieve the objective. According to guidance from the U.S. National Research Council (NRC 2000), destruction and strong immobilization are the naturally occurring processes that achieve a realistic objective: containing the contaminant relatively nears its source, thereby minimizing exposure risks. The strategy for obtaining solid evidence that the objective is being achieved requires measurements that establish a cause-and-effect relationship between contaminant loss and a destruction or strong-immobilization reaction. The cause-and-effect relationship is best documented with reaction footprints, which typically are concentration changes in reactants or products of the destruction or immobilization reaction. MTBE presents a contemporary example in which footprint evidence for biodegradation is especially crucial, since aerobic biodegradation of MTBE requires special conditions not present at all sites: a high availability of dissolved oxygen and bacteria expressing particular oxygenase enzymes.     

Unexpected amino acid composition of modern Reptilia and its implications in molecular mechanisms of dinosaur extinction

Dinosaur extinction is a great challenge to evolutionary biology. Although accumulating evidence suggests that an abrupt change of environment, such as a long period of low temperature induced by asteroid hit or other disasters, may be responsible for dinosaur extinction, little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. By analyzing the amino acid compositions of 13 biological classes, we found that the charged amino acid content of modern Reptilia, the sibling of dinosaur, is strikingly different from those of other classes, which inspires us to propose a possible molecular mechanism for dinosaur extinction.     

The problem of Dinosaur extinction.Contribution of the study of terminal Cretaceous eggshells from Southeast France

A biostratigraphic sequence based upon dinosaureggshells during the lower and upper Rognacian (upper Cretaceous) in the Aix-en-Provence sedimentary basin (Bouches-du-Rhône, France) has been studied from a morphometric and microstructural viewpoint. Stratigraphic control of eggshell fragment sampling made it possible to follow their evolution throughout the Rognacian. Our results differ from those of certain authors who have worked in this region in that no tendancy toward abnormal eggshell thinness appears at the end of the Cretaceous which could be linked to the problem of dinosaur extinction. Furthermore, we observed no significant increase in the number of bi- or multistratified eggshells («ovum-in-ovo) in the deposits. The microstructural study shows the presence mainly of normal egg-shells belonging to at least three morphotypes.     

Avian ichnia and other vertebrate trace fossils from the Neogene Red Beds of Tarom valley in north-western Iran

The Neogene Red Beds of the Tarom valley (north-western Iran) include conglomerate, sandstone, marl and gypsum. Avian and mammal footprints were discovered in one of the sandstone layers at the base of a third Miocene stratigraphical unit in the Gilankesheh area located in the east Tarom valley. The avian ichnia include Aviadactyla vialovi, Avipeda filiportatis, Charadriipeda disjuncta, Charadriipeda isp. A and B and cf. Ornithotarnocia lambrechti. Bird feeding traces are preserved as bilobate, loop-shaped, sinusoidal and ring-like traces. We have also identified a reticulate texture of sole scale imprints in some of the avian ichnia. Two mammal footprints of camelid-like artiodactyls are also present with the avian ichno-assemblage.     

BIOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF DINOSAUR EGGSHELLS (Ⅲ)──THE MECHANIC ANALYSIS OF THE BABY DINOSAURS' EMERGING FROM THEIR EGGS

Thepurposeofthispaperistoanalyzethestressofdinosaureggshellloadedbythehatch1ingswhentheyhatch,andfourtypesofdinosaureggshellsareavaila-ble(seeTablelofZhaoeta1.,l994;TablelofMaandZhao,1994).Mostofthelivingreptileshaveflexible,parchment-likeeggshellscomposedoffibresandrelativelysma1lamountsofcalciumcarbonate.Thchatchlings,eachequ-ippedwithasmalI,sharp"eggtooth",cracktheireggshel1stoemerge'However,theyoungbirdspokeatthebluntendoftheeggwiththeirbeak,thenstruggleoutfromtheireggs.Thehatchingproce…     

Search for ancient patterns in protein sequences

Proteins of related functions are often similar in sequence, reflecting a common phylogenetic origin. Proteins with no known homology are probably diversified proteins, too distantly related to known sequences in databases to retain significant similarity. All proteins, however, probably share common ancestries if one moves far enough back in evolution; therefore, given the huge accumulation of protein sequences in current databases, it could be expected that some proteins with no obvious sequence resemblance to any other share some residues that could represent footprints of ancient common ancestries. To identify such putative footprints, we have searched for short stretches of amino acids present in a given protein sequence that are also found in a significant number of nonrelated proteins in the database. The significantly high frequency of occurrence of these patterns in the database would support a common evolutionary source, and a diversity of non-related proteins that contain the pattern would express their ancient origin. Using this strategy, significant patterns were found in actual exons, but not in randomized amino acid sequences, nor in translated sequences of noncoding DNA, suggesting that this strategy actually leads to the identification of patterns with a biological significance. These significant patterns are not randomly positioned along the sequences analyzed, but they tend to accumulate within specific regions, producing a profile of discrete domains. In some well-known proteins analyzed in this study, some of these domains are coincident with known motifs. Thus, the procedure described in this paper could be useful for identifying ancient patterns and domains in protein sequences, some of which could also have a functional or structural significance.     

BIOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF DINOSAUR EGGSHELLS (Ⅰ)─THE STRESS ANALYSIS OF THE DINOSAUR EGGSHELLS UNDER EXTERNAL PRESSURE

Inrecentyears,severalstudieshaveindicatedthattheconductanceofwatervaporandrespiratorygases,estimatedfrommeasurementsofdinosaureggshellandporegeometry,canprovideevidencefortheenvironmentalconditionssurroundingembryosduringincubation(Seymour,1979;Williamsetal.,1984;Mou,1992).Inparticular,ithasbeensuggestedfromsomepapersaboutdinosaureggshellsthatthelastextinctionofdinosaurswou1dberelatedtotheirreproduction(Erben,1970;Erbenetal.,1979;Zhao,1978,1990,1994;Zhao,Yeetal.,1991;Zhao,Wangetal.,1993).T…     

Unusually thick dinosaur eggshell fragments from the Spanish Late Cretaceous

Fieldwork carried out recently in the southeastern branch of the Iberian Range (Valencia Province, Spain) has led to the collection of a large volume of dinosaur eggshell fragments of unusual thickness. These specimens, up to 4.9 mm thick, were recovered from palustrine grey marls of the upper Campanian-lower Maastrichtian Sierra Perenchiza Formation, which comprises a wetland paleoenvironment deposit. These eggshell fragments have a characteristic compactituberculate ornamentation, dinosauroid-spherulitic organisation, and exhibit a complex canaliculate respiratory system. The external tuberculate surface of the shell as well as the internal microstructure enable referral to Megaloolithus aff. siruguei, the most common megaloolithid oospecies known from the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. The biostratigraphic range of M. siruguei matches the temporal distribution of titanosaurid dinosaurs across the Iberian Range, tentatively considered to be potential producers.