Books on the topic 'Proximate compositions'

Developments in linguistics provided another external source of inspiration for students of ideology. ‘The struggle over political language’ explores the contribution of language to the development of ideology. The meaning of language — in particular the emphasis on grammar and semantics — played a critical role in enabling similar ideologies to be expressed in their own specific terms. Making sense of ideological texts became an increasingly important role for political theorists. From this emerged the four Ps of ideological composition: proximity, priority, permeability, and proportionality. These have provided an important tool for complex comparative analysis of ideologies.

Population growth can have positive or negative effects on development, depending on the circumstances. The more rapid growth of the working-age population relative to the dependent population provides a demographic dividend for economic growth. However, in many less developed countries, a large population puts pressure on limited resources. A better understanding of the interrelationship between population and development is essential for planning at the national, state and local levels. This book is the first of its kind that provides a comprehensive analysis of the demographic and socioeconomic landscapes of Sabah which can be used as a reference by policymakers, investors, and researchers. It consists of fourteen chapters, addressing a wide range of issues related to population growth, distribution and composition, education, labour force, income, migration, fertility and its proximate determinants (marriage and family planning), and specific target groups – families, women, youth and non-citizens. Data from population censuses, household surveys, vital statistics, service statistics, administrative records, and official documents were used for the analysis.

James Tenney presents the results of some statistical analyses that he carried out with the aid of a computer to study the chronological development of Carl Ruggles's melodic style. Certain aspects of Ruggles's music—the general shape of the melodic lines, the ever-present dissonant sonorities—are so consistent throughout all of his compositions that they give an impression of singular stylistic homogeneity. Tenney's results suggest just the opposite conclusion—at least with respect to his melodic writing. He goes on to examine significant changes in Ruggles's melodic style that are manifested in three ways: a gradual shift in the distribution of interval frequencies; a more and more effective avoidance of early recurrences of pitch classes; and an increase in the frequency and proximity of dissonance relations within his melodic lines.

The book explores how diversity in United Nations’ peace mission composition affects peacekeeping effectiveness. It identifies four key dimensions of composition: Blue Helmets’ field diversity, top mission leadership diversity (between Force Commander and Special Representative of the Secretary General), vertical leadership distance (Leadership-Blue Helmets), and horizontal distance with the local population. Each dimension of diversity of mission is measured as linguistic, geographical, and religious distance. Our book conceptualizes original mechanisms—i. resolve commitment; ii. informative trust; iii. informative communicability; iv. skilled persuasion—through which diversity can shape mission effectiveness such as trust, communicability, deterrence, and persuasion. It then evaluates each dimension separately through three pathway case studies—the UN missions in Lebanon, in Mali, and in the Central African Republic—and quantitative analyses based on a global dataset of peacekeeping operations deployed since the end of the Cold War. The book finds that diversity of Blue Helmets and diversity of top leadership may increase the mission’s capacity to reduce battle-field violence and civilian victimization. At the same time, the effects of diversity are contextual and contingent. In fact, looking at the relation between peacekeepers and Force Commanders, proximity between them is generally associated with better performances. Furthermore, homogeneity between local populations and peacekeepers, or low distance between them, is also related to low levels of hostility and casualties. This book crucially demonstrates why diversity of mission composition is a key variable to consider when trying to enhance peacekeeping effectiveness.

An old-fashioned somatological analysis of the racial composition of the present-day populations of Northeast India suggested that this area was home to two major races of mankind, the Caucasoid and the Mongoloid, and modern population genetic studies now provide us with an even more fine-meshed and complex view of population prehistory. Close proximity of these populations in terms of settlements has led to exchange of genes between the two groups. This chapter provides a detailed account of the linguistic situation in Northeast India, which is relevant to our understanding of the prehistoric dispersals of linguistic groups. Various linguistic hypotheses and feasible archaeological links are discussed in this chapter. Probable routes of migration are also discussed on the basis of linguistic, ethnographical, historical, and folkloristic data.

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of different disturbances (both natural and anthropogenic) on species composition and stand structure of old-growth mixed mountain forests in the Western Carpathians. These stands are usually dominated by beech, fir and spruce, mixed in different proportions. The tree main species represent different growth strategies, and they compete against each other. The longevity of trees makes the factors influencing the stand structure difficult to identify, even during longitudinal studies conducted on permanent research plots. That is why dendroecological techniques, based upon the annual variability of tree rings, are commonly used to analyze the disturbance histories of old-growth stands. Dendroecological methods make it possible to reconstruct the stand history over several centuries in the past by analyzing the frequency, intensity, duration and spatial scale of disturbances causing the death of trees. Combining the dendroecological techniques with the detailed measurements of stand structure, snag volume, CWD volume, and the analyses of regeneration species composition and structure allows us to identify the factors responsible for the changes in dynamics of mixed mountain forests. Various disturbance agents affect some species selectively, while some disturbances promote the establishment of tree seedlings of specific species by modifying environmental conditions. Describing the disturbance regime requires a broad scope of data on stand structure, on dead wood and tree regeneration, while various factors affecting all the stages of tree growth should be taken into consideration. On the basis of the already published data from permanent sample plots, combined with the available disturbance history analyses from the Western Carpathians, three research hypotheses were formulated. 1. The species composition of mixed mountain forests has been changing for at least several decades. These directional changes are the consequence of simultaneous conifer species decline and expansion of beech. 2. The observed changes in species composition of mixed mountain forests are the effect of indirect anthropogenic influences, significantly changing tree growth conditions also in the forests that are usually considered natural or near-natural. Cumulative impact of these indirect influences leads to the decrease of fir share in the tree layer (spruce decline has also been observed recently),and it limits the representation of this species among seedlings and saplings. The final effect is the decrease of fir and spruce share in the forest stands. 3. Small disturbances, killing single trees or small groups of trees, and infrequent disturbances of medium size and intensity dominate the disturbance regime in mixed mountain forests. The present structure of beech-fir-spruce forests is shaped both by complex disturbance regime and indirect anthropogenic influences. The data were gathered in permanent sample plots in strictly protected areas of Babia Góra, Gorce, and Tatra National Parks, situated in the Western Carpathians. All plots were located in the old-growth forest stands representing Carpathian beech forest community. The results of the measurements of trees, snags, coarse woody debris (CWD) and tree regeneration were used for detailed description of changes in the species composition and structure of tree stands. Tree ring widths derived from increment cores were used to reconstruct the historical changes in tree growth trends of all main tree species, as well as the stand disturbance history within the past two to three hundred years. The analyses revealed complex disturbance history in all of the three forest stands. Intermediate disturbances of variable intensity occurred, frequently separated by the periods of low tree mortality lasting from several decades up to over one hundred years. The intervals between the disturbances were significantly shorter than the expected length of forest developmental cycle, in commonly used theories describing the dynamics of old-growth stands. During intermediate disturbances up to several dozen percent of canopy trees were killed. There were no signs of stand-replacing disturbances, killing all or nearly all of canopy trees. The periods of intense tree mortality were followed by subsequent periods of increased sapling recruitment. Variability in disturbance intensity is one of the mechanisms promoting the coexistence of beech and conifer species in mixed forests. The recruitment of conifer saplings depended on the presence of larger gaps, resulting from intermediate disturbances, while beech was more successful in the periods of low mortality. However, in the last few decades, beech seems to benefit from the period of intense fir mortality. This change results from the influence of long-term anthropogenic disturbances, affecting natural mechanisms that maintain the coexistence of different tree species and change natural disturbance regimes. Indirect anthropogenic influence on tree growth was clearly visible in the gradual decrease of fir increments in the twentieth century, resulting from the high level of air pollution in Europe. Synchronous decreases of fir tree rings’ widths were observed in all three of the sample plots, but the final outcomes depended on the fir age. In most cases, the damage to the foliage limited the competitive abilities of fir, but it did not cause a widespread increase in tree mortality, except for the oldest firs in the BGNP (Babia Góra National Park) plot. BGNP is located in the proximity of industrial agglomeration of Upper Silesia, and it could be exposed to higher level of air pollution than the other two plots. High level of fir regeneration browsing due to the deer overabundance and insufficient number of predators is the second clear indication of the indirect anthropogenic influence on mixed mountain forests. Game impact on fir regeneration is the most pronounced in Babia Góra forests, where fir was almost completely eliminated from the saplings. Deer browsing seems to be the main factor responsible for limiting the number of fir saplings and young fir trees, while the representation of fir among seedlings is high. The experiments conducted in fenced plots located in the mixed forests in BGNP proved that fir and sycamore were the most preferred by deer species among seedlings and saplings. In GNP (Gorce National Park) and TNP (Tatra National Park), the changes in species composition of tree regeneration are similar, but single firs or even small groups of firs are present among saplings. It seems that all of the analysed mixed beech-fir-spruce forests undergo directional changes, causing a systematic decrease in fir representation, and the expansion of beech. This tendency results from the indirect anthropogenic impact, past and present. Fir regeneration decline, alongside with the high level of spruce trees’ mortality in recent years, may lead to a significant decrease in conifers representation in the near future, and to the expansion of beech forests at the cost of mixed ones.