1,697 research outputs found
Alternative stable states in mountain forest ecosystems: the case of European larch (Larix decidua) forests in the western Alps
Full text linkEuropean larch (Larix decidua) forests of the western Alps form extensive cultural landscapes whose resilience to global changes is currently unknown. Resilience describes the capacity of ecological systems to maintain the same state, i.e., the same function, processes, structure, and composition despite disturbances, environmental changes and internal fluctuations. Our aim is to explore the resilience of larch forests to changes in climate and land use in the western Italian Alps. To do so, we examined whether larch forests can be described as an alternative stable state in mountain forest ecosystems. We used tree basal area data obtained from field forest inventories in combination with topography, forest structure, land use, and climate information. We applied three different probabilistic methods: frequency distributions, logistic regressions, and potential analyses to infer the resilience of larch forests relative to that of other forest types. We found patters indicative of alternative stable states: bimodality in the frequency distribution of the percent of larch basal area, and the presence of an unstable state, i.e., mixed larch forests, in the potential analyses. We also found: (1) high frequency of pure larch forests at high elevation, (2) the probability of pure larch forests increased mostly with elevation, and (3) pure larch forests were a stable state in the upper montane and subalpine belts. Our study shows that the resilience of larch forests may increase with elevation, most likely due to the altitudinal effect on climate. Under the same climate conditions, land use seems to be the main factor governing the dominance of larch forests. In fact, subalpine larch forests may be more resilient, and natural succession after land abandonment, e.g., towards Pinus cembra forests, seems slower than in montane larch forests. In contrast, in the upper montane belt only intense land use regimes characterized by open canopies and forest grazing may maintain larch forests. We conclude that similar approaches could be applied in other forest ecosystems to infer the resilience of tree species
FINANCING COMMUNITY FACILITIES: A CASE STUDY OF THE PARKS AND RECREATIONAL GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND MEASURE OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
Full text linkThis study of the City of San Jose’s Parks and Recreation General Obligation (GO) Bond Measure seeks to identify the politics-, management-, and planning-related lessons learned by the City as it developed its community facilities using the GO bonds proceeds. The study finds that these lessons include: be conservative in what you promise the residents; be prepared for changes in economic environment by identifying supplementary funding sources should the primary source not yield adequate funds; make sure that the jurisdiction is organizationally capable of handling the increased workload; and prepare detailed project plans prior to the bond issuance.Community Infrastructure and Services; Municipal Bonds; Public Finance
Resilience of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) forests to wildfires in the western Alps
Full text linkEuropean larch is a dominant species in the subalpine belt of the western Alps. Despite recent increases in wildfire activity in this region, fire ecology of European larch is poorly understood compared to other larch species around the world. This study aims to assess whether European larch forests are resilient to fires, and to find out the factors that drive such resilience. We assessed the recovery of larch forests along a gradient of fire severity (low, moderate, high) based on the abundance and dominance of post-fire larch regeneration. We established 200 plots distributed among burned larch forests in nine wildfires that occurred between 1973 and 2007 in the western Alps. We included variables regarding topography, climate, fire severity, fire legacies, ground cover, grazing intensity, and time since fire. To evaluate potential drivers of larch recruitment, we applied generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) and random forests (RF). Larch regeneration was much more abundant and dominant in the moderate- and high-severity fire classes than in the low-severity class. More than half of the plots in the moderate- and high-severity classes were classified as resilient, i.e., post-fire larch regeneration was enough to recover a larch stand. GLMM and RF produced complementary results: fire severity and legacies, such as snags, canopy cover and distance to seed source, were crucial factors explaining post-fire larch recruitment. This study shows that fire has a positive effect on larch regeneration, and we conclude that European larch forests are highly resilient to mixed-severity fires in the western Alp
Rural development funding and wildfire prevention: evidences of spatial mismatches with fire activity
Full text linkThe European Union Rural Development Program (RDP) is a major driver of landscape change over time in Europe. In a context of climate and land use changes and consequent fire risk exacerbation, understanding the possible contribution of RDP measures to wildfire risk mitigation could help planning subsidies allocation criteriain a more efficient way for fire prevention. However, little is known on the links between the spatial allocation of RDP subsidies, relevant for wildfires prevention, and the spatial distribution of fire activity. Our study aims to fill this knowledge gap through an exploratory analysis carried out in Italy and based on fire activity indicators of the period 2007–2017, RDP expenditure at municipal level in the period 2017–2013, and a series of ancillary indicators. We selected RDP measures specifically addressing wildfires (direct prevention) and those whose implementation has an impact on fire regime (indirect prevention). Our results suggest a low association between RDP expenditure for fire-related measures and subsequent reduction of wildfire activity. Principal Component Analysis suggests a role of managed rural areas in mitigating fire activity, as well as a spatial mismatch between wildfire prevention expenditure and high fire activity contexts. We claim the need for a deeper integration of territorial planning information within the RDP funding allocation criteria. Also, integrating RDP indirect pre-
vention measures within fire management plans would be a cost-effective approach to leverage the impact of public policies on wildfire risk management, by allocating the limited financial resources to high-risk areas
Letter from Jose V to Hubert Creekmore (21 November 1950)
Full text linkLetter written in Forest Hills, Long Island, New York, regarding the poem, Gazelle of Unforeseen Love. The author updates Creekmore on a variety of personal and professional matters.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/creekmore/1066/thumbnail.jp
The Use of Phonics With Adult ELLs at the Beginner Level
Full text linkThis study examines the work of Jose V. Torres, author of the Level 1 beginner adult ELL textbook I Want To Learn English, to evaluate the effectiveness of phonics instruction in literacy development for adult English Language Learners (ELLs). Drawing on data from two primary sources—(1) textbook-based assessments focused on students’ ability to distinguish between long and short vowels, and (2) CASAS outcome scores collected under controlled conditions at Baltimore Community College—this research addresses a significant gap in the literature on adult ELL literacy acquisition. Specifically, the study investigates the impact of explicitly integrating phonics instruction into a contextualized curriculum for beginner-level learners. Findings suggest that phonics-inclusive instruction contributes to measurable gains in English proficiency and course completion. By highlighting the instructional value of phonics for adult ELLs, this study supports the need for further research and offers practical implications for curriculum design and classroom practice
The political instrumentalization of professional football in Francoist Spain 1939-1975
No full textPhDThe objective of this thesis is to be the first systematic study of the
political instrumentalization of football in Francoist Spain from 1939
to 1975.
Seven separate and contrasting aspects of this political
instrumentalization may be isolated, and, accordingly, this thesis will
consist of a chapter examining each one of these seven aspects in turn.
After a first introductory chapter, Chapter Two will examine the
application of Fascist concepts to Spanish football. In the third
chapter, the questions of whether and to what extent football was used
by the Franco regime as a political soporific will be discussed. The
theme of Chapter Four is the lack of democracy within the structures of
the game, a situation that is alleged to have been deliberately imposed
by the regime in order to not create an uncomfortable comparison for
itself with the lack of national and local political democracy. The
poor working conditions of the footballers, which mirrored those of the
great majority of Spanish workers during the Franco period, are the
subject of Chapter Five. In the sixth Chapter, the political
significance of the presence in Francoist Spain of a group of refugee
players and coaches from Europe will be examined. The diplomatic
and ambassadorial significance of football, in particular of the
spectacular international triumphs of the Real Madrid club, will be
discussed in Chapter Seven. The political significance of football as a
focus for Basque and Catalan nationalist sentiment, in opposition to the
centralist Madrid regime, is the subject of Chapter Eight
Sectoral allocation by gender of Latin American workers over the liberalization period of the 1990s
Full text linkThe recent restructuring of Latin American economies has renewed interest in the effects of trade liberalization, on labor markets, and on the gender division of labor. The author does not attempt to establish casuality between economic reforms, and the types of jobs that men and women hold. Instead, she provides a detailed description of the trends in male, and female formal, and informal sector participation during the economic reform period in Argentina, Brazil, and Costa Rica. The author first compares the gender composition of the formal, informal wage, and self-employment sectors in a year before reforms (1988 for Argentina, 1989 for Brazil, and Costa Rica), and a year after reforms implementation (1997 for Argentina, 1995 for Brazil and Costa Rica). Although women continued to be more likely than men to work in the informal wage sector, there is no trend of"masculinization"or"feminization"of the informal sector, or any other. Instead, in Argentina men have overtaken women as the most prevalent workers in the informal wage sector, while in Brazil, the opposite has occurred (as men move into self-employment). In Costa Rica there have been no statistical, observable changes. The author then considers the distribution across sectors within each gender group, to identify whether men, and women are more likely to select different sectors in the post-reform period relative to the pre-reform period. Among both men, and women in all three countries (except Brazilian men), workers have become more likely to hold informal wage jobs, and less likely to hold formal sector jobs. Trends in human capital accumulation explain these changes for both men, and women, while changes in gender roles, primarily in homecare and marriage, do not seem to have an effect.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Labor Policies,Population&Development,Public Health Promotion,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Population&Development,Banks&Banking Reform,Work&Working Conditions
Design Of Cybersecurity Laboratory Guides For The Specialization In Teleinformatics At The Universidad Francisco José De Caldas
No full textEn este documento se presenta el trabajo del diseño de la primera fase del laboratorio de ciberseguridad de la Especialización en Teleinformática de la Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas; en primera instancia se da una presentación del trabajo en donde se contextualiza la problemática, la cual básicamente se centra en la falta de un componente práctico en la especialización en teleinformática en el área de la ciberseguridad, lo que impacta en el aprendizaje y exploración de los estudiantes de la especialización y más aun teniendo en cuenta que es en el campo de la teleinformática lo que infiere en una amplia relación con el uso computacional, cibernético, tecnológico y de telecomunicaciones, teniendo en cuenta los lineamientos de las certificaciones CySA y CISSP donde se cubrió principalmente el dominio Security Assessment and Testing para ello se utilizaron herramientas de código abierto Python y posteriormente se elaboraron guías de laboratorio para su entendimiento y desarrollo en donde cada una comprende un espacio de explicación del cómo se hace y para que se hace dicha práctica. El desarrollo de este trabajo se basó en lo planteado en el capítulo 10 del libro “Mastering Python for Networking and Security - Second Edition” del autor José Manuel Ortega, en donde básicamente ya entrega los códigos para correr en el sofware PyCharm. Sin embargo, adicional a esto, se estudiaron otras literaturas para poder comprender en qué consisten las vulnerabilidades tanto de XSS como de inyección SQL, lo que incluyo la implementación de simulaciones en el sofware GNS3 en donde se hizo uso de máquinas virtuales que cuentan con el sistema operativo Kali Linux y Ubuntu posteriormente poder organizar la temática en 4 prácticas. Cada una de las practicas está compuesta por un objetivo, una descripción, unos requisitos previos, la una parte teórica o explicativa, la ejemplificación utilizada por Jose Manuel Ortega en el libro, la práctica en GNS3, el análisis y el cómo poder mitigar el ataque.This document presents the work of the design of the first phase of the cybersecurity laboratory of the Specialization in Teleinformatics of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas; In the first instance a presentation of the work is given where the problem is contextualized, which basically focuses on the lack of a practical component in the specialization in teleinformatics in the area of cybersecurity, which impacts the learning and exploration of the students of the specialization and even more taking into account that it is in the field of teleinformatics which infers in a broad relationship with the computational, cybernetic, technological and technological use, cybernetic, technological and telecommunications, taking into account the guidelines of the CySA and CISSP certifications where the Security Assessment and Testing domain was mainly covered, using open source Python tools and then laboratory guides were elaborated for its understanding and development, where each one includes a space of explanation of how it is done and what the practice is for. The development of this work was based on chapter 10 of the book “Mastering Python for Networking and Security - Second Edition” by the author José Manuel Ortega, where he basically delivers the codes to run in PyCharm software. However, in addition to this, other literature was studied in order to understand what are the vulnerabilities of both XSS and SQL injection, which included the implementation of simulations in the GNS3 software where virtual machines were used that have the operating system Kali Linux and Ubuntu then to organize the subject in 4 practices. Each of the practices is composed of an objective, a description, prerequisites, a theoretical or explanatory part, the exemplification used by Jose Manuel Ortega in the book, the practice in GNS3, the analysis and how to mitigate the attack
Land use change towards forests and wooded land correlates with large and frequent wildfires in Italy
Full text link- …
