Suchergebnisse

El uso de plaguicidas destinados a prevenir, destruir o controlar cualquier tipo de plaga, incluido vectores de enfermedades, plantas o animales indeseables en la producción de alimentos , ha tenido un aumento significativo en los últimos años, gracias a los múltiples beneficios que genera tanto a productores como a consumidores [1, 2], entre otros el incremento entre la relación costo beneficio, la mejora de calidad y cantidad de las cosechas o la reducción de las pérdidas en la post cosecha. Sin embargo, dicho aumento puede traer algunas consecuencias negativas para el medio ambiente ya que se estima que alrededor de un 2 a 5% de estos cumple con su objetivo principal, el restante interacciona con todos los compartimentos ambientales [3]. La interacción de los plaguicidas con el ambiente genera varios tipos de movimiento, dentro de los que se destacan la lixiviación, la escorrentía o la volatilización. Cada uno de ellos involucra diferentes partes del ecosistema y se relacionan entre sí, con las condiciones climáticas, las características físicas y químicas de los plaguicidas y con los receptores en el medio ambiente. De la amplia gama de plaguicidas existentes en el mercado, los herbicidas son los más importantes en Colombia ya que alcanzaron ventas superiores a los 14 millones 700 mil litros (55,9%) [4]. El destino ambiental de los plaguicidas es una preocupación importante de los gobiernos, particularmente de los herbicidas por su aplicación directa al suelo [5].En los cultivos de arroz se suman dos características adicionales, la primera es que las malezas son la principal plaga, la segunda son las características anaeróbicas de este cultivo, ya que los rendimientos mayores en producción los brinda el arroz de riego o inundado, siendo el más usado en la zona centro [6]. En el presente trabajo de investigación, se evaluó la lixiviación en columna de suelo de los herbicidas metsulfurón metilo y ácido 2, 4 diclorofenoxiacético (2,4-D), para dos suelos en condiciones de inundación, ubicados en los municipios de Espinal y Prado, Departamento del Tolima, mayormente productores de arroz. Los ensayos se realizaron empleando columnas de 30 cm de longitud y 10,1 cm de diámetro. La cuantificación de los plaguicidas en las fracciones de lixiviados obtenidas en la base de la columna se realizó mediante técnicas cromatográficas. Una vez terminados los ensayos de lixiviación se realizaron extracciones de suelo, para determinar las concentraciones residuales de herbicidas en función de la profundidad [7]. Se representó la curva de elución (Breakthrough curve, BTC) de bromuro, 2,4-D y metsulfurón metilo en la columna de suelo saturado de agua del Municipio del Espinal. Se obtuvieron los coeficientes del modelo de transporte en equilibrio (CDE1) y no equilibrio (PNE2 y CNE3) mediante el programa CXTFIT 2. 1 que resuelven la ecuación de convección-dispersión, ajustando la curva obtenida de manera experimental [8, 9]. Para el herbicida 2,4-D, se calculó el coeficiente de retardo (R) en los modelos no equilibrio físico (PNE) y no equilibrio químico (2 site). Se observa que el valor estadístico del coeficiente de correlación (R) calculado fue significativamente igual en todos los modelos con respecto al promedio (2,0750,04), aunque el modelo que mejor se ajustó en las condiciones de nuestro experimento fue el de PNE. Con el valor del coeficiente de retardo mejor ajustado por las ecuaciones en PNE, se determinó la constante de adsorción para el herbicida en condiciones anaerobias (22,69 LKg-1), valor coincidente con el calculado por algunos investigadores en condiciones aerobias [10, 11]. Para el metsulfurón metilo se obtuvo la curva de lixiviación con las concentraciones de las muestras, aunque por la forma y la estructura de dicho gráfico no es posible ajustar la curva a las ecuaciones modelo del programa. Con respecto a la columna preparada con el suelo del Municipio de Prado, para el ion bromuro se obtuvo más de un 50% de la curva de elución; por otra parte no se obtuvieron las curvas de elución para el ácido 2,4-diclorofenoxiacético y metsulfurón metilo, ya que a lo largo del experimento se tuvo un flujo (0,04-0,06 ml/h) principalmente debido al alto porcentaje de arcillas dentro de este, razón por la cual se observó una mayor retención del bromuro y los herbicidas. Adicionalmente se observó que el volumen de agua eluido fue ¼ de volumen de poro, durante 6 meses aproximadamente que duró el ensayo. Dicho tiempo no fue suficiente para percolar la totalidad del trazador ni de los herbicidas. Finalmente se realizó la extracción de ion bromuro en el suelo utilizado para la columna de Prado encontrando un porcentaje de recuperación (suma de los lixiviados y la cantidad retenida en el suelo) de 94,6%. Mediante ensayos de degradación en biómetros, se evaluó la degradación en condiciones anaeróbicas para el 2,4-D en las muestras de suelo tanto del municipio de Espinal como el de Prado, encontrando un tiempo de vida media (DT50) para el 2,4-D de 11,13 días en el suelo de Espinal y 7,4 días para la muestra de suelo de Prado. Particularmente se observa la disminución del tiempo de vida media del 2,4-D con el incremento del contenido de arcillas en el suelo, fenómeno que se explica por el mayor retardo que presenta dicho herbicida en las arcillas, aunque la lixiviación se ajuste a las ecuaciones de PNE y la adsorción no sea representativa bajo dichas condiciones. Por otro lado dichos tiempos de vida media reflejan una trasformación rápida del herbicida en el momento que entran en contacto con el suelo, concluyendo que el potencial de lixiviación disminuye por la disminución de la concentración disponible en la matriz de suelo. (Texto tomado de la fuente) ; Pesticide use for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest, including vectors of diseases, unwanted plants or animals in food production, had a significant increase in recent years, thanks to the multiple benefits generated both producers and consumers [1, 2], including the increase between the cost-benefit ratio, improved quality and quantity of crops or reducing post harvest losses. However, this increase may bring some negative consequences for the environment as it is estimated that about 2-5% of these meets its primary objective, the remaining interacts with all environmental compartments [3]. The interaction of pesticides to the environment generates several types of movement, within which stand leaching, runoff or volatilization. Each involves different parts of the ecosystem and relates to each other, with the weather, the physical and chemical characteristics of pesticides and with receptors on the environment. Of the wide range of existing pesticides on the market, herbicides are the most important in Colombia and reaching sales of more than 14 million 700 thousand liters (55.9%) [4]. The environmental fate of pesticides is a major concern of governments, particularly herbicides by direct application to the soil [5]. Rice crops in two additional features are added, the first is that weeds are the major pest, the second are the anaerobic characteristics of this culture, as higher production yields in the irrigated rice provides or flooded, the most used in the downtown area. [6] In the present research, leaching was evaluated in soil column herbicide metsulfuron methyl acid and 2, 4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) for two soils under flooded conditions, located in the municipalities of Espinal and Prado Department of Tolima, mostly rice farmers. The tests were performed using columns of 30 cm long and 10.1 cm in diameter. Quantification of pesticides leachates fractions obtained base was performed by column chromatographic techniques. Once the leaching tests were completed soil extractions were performed to determine the residual levels of herbicide versus depth in [7]. The elution curve (Breakthrough curve, BTC) bromide, 2,4-D and metsulfuron methyl in the Espinal soil column in saturated conditions was plotted. The coefficients of the equilibrium transport model (CDE) and non equilibrium (PNE and CNE) by CXTFIT 2. 1 program is obtained which solve the convection-dispersion equation, adjusting the curve obtained experimentally [8, 9]. For the herbicide 2,4-D, the drag coefficient (R) was calculated in non-physical equilibrium (PNE) models, and non chemical equilibrium (site 2). It is noted that the statistical value of the correlation coefficient (R) calculated was significantly equal in all models from the average (2.075  0.04), although the model that best fit the conditions of our experiment was to PNE. With the value of the drag coefficient for the best-fitting equations PNE, the adsorption constant for the herbicide was determined under anaerobic conditions (22.69 L Kg-1), which coincides with the calculated value by some researchers in aerobic conditions [10, 11]. For metsulfuron methyl curve leaching concentrations of the samples were obtained, although the shape and structure of this graph is not possible to adjust the curve to the model equations program. Regarding the column prepared with soil Township Prado, for the bromide ion was obtained more than 50% of the elution curve; Moreover elution curves for 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and methyl metsulfuron were not obtained, since during the experiment, a flow (0.04-0.06 ml / h) were was mainly due to the high percentage clays within this, which is why a greater retention and herbicide bromide was observed. Additionally it was observed that the volume of eluate was ¼ water pore volume, for about 6 months of the trial. This time was not enough to percolate the entire tracer or herbicides. Finally the extraction of bromide ion in the soil used for column Prado finding a recovery percentage (sum of the leachate and the amount retained in the soil) of 94.6% was performed. By biometers degradation assays, degradation was evaluated under anaerobic conditions for 2,4-D in soil samples from both the town of Espinal like Prado, finding a half-life (DT50) for 2,4 -D of 11.13 days in soil Spinal and 7.4 days for soil sample Prado. Particularly decreased half-life of 2,4-D with increasing clay content in the soil, a phenomenon that is explained by the longer delay having said herbicide in clays is observed, although leaching meets the PNE equations and not representative adsorption under these conditions. Furthermore these reflect the half-lives of rapid herbicide transformation when in contact with soil, concluding that leaching potential decreases by decreasing the concentration available in the soil matrix. ; Maestría

In the context of climate change and energy crisis, bioenergy, which accounts for the largest share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, has drawn considerable attention from an increasing number of countries. While its potential to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to provide energy has been widely acknowledged, concerns over the side effects of bioenergy are still being voiced. In particular, its perceived threats on food security and local ecosystems have largely impeded its development, which is best exemplified by the role that bioenergy takes in the EU's growth strategy of "Europe 2020". This fact provided the motivation for the reflections presented in this thesis on how to realize a sustainable development of the bioenergy industry. To answer this question, we have selected a coastal province in eastern China as the region in which to conduct our study. China is simultaneously the most populated country and the largest GHGs emitter in the world. It can, therefore, be expected that the entire international community can learn some valuable lessons from the practical experience that China has gathered in the field of bioenergy. Following a brief outline of the background information on our research in the initial two chapters, Chapter 3 frames the structure of the bioenergy industry and clarifies the role of each actor. Depending on their relative importance in the industry, these actors can be assigned to one of the two categories of stakeholders: central or peripheral. Based on the local practice, we present the construction process of the bioenergy industry in China from both the supply side and the demand side. This descriptive analysis is intended to help the reader form a general understanding of the bioenergy industry in China, on which our subsequent quantitative analysis is based. Chapter 4 focuses on farmers as one of the central stakeholders that are located at the upstream of the bioenergy supply chain. We develop a biomass feedstock provision model compiled with GAMS to simulate the responsive behaviors of farmers – the agents in our spatial-agent dynamic model – to the challenges arising from emerging energy crops. Using this model, we delineate land use changes after the insertion of the bioenergy industry. We further fix the sources of the promising biomass feedstock, with the straws of conventional crops accounting for 85% of feedstock and energy crops for the remaining 15%. In view of the geographical characteristics of the region, the northern part of Jiangsu is recommended to accommodate an extensive cultivation of energy crops in the long run. Furthermore, our model also confirmed the positive role of reclaimed mudflats as a candidate for the arable land resource that is capable of alleviating land use conflicts between conventional crops and energy crops. In analogy to Chapter 4 focusing on farmers, Chapter 5 concentrates on haulers and bioenergy plants operators, which are the other two actors belonging to the category of central stakeholders. Based on the data on biomass feedstock provision predicted by the model described above, we deliberately calibrate the optimizing model of bioenergy industry infrastructure to stimulate their respective performances. As a result we discovered a general pattern in the modeled distribution of bioenergy plants: due to the higher transportation cost of biomass feedstock than of bioenergy products, bioenergy plants opt to be situated more closely to the sources of biomass feedstock than to the consumption centers of bioenergy products. In terms of the specific distribution, the model projects that up to 44% of biorefineries and 62% of power plants with the largest scale should be located in northern Jiangsu. These figures support the government's decision to turn the area into a production basis for bioenergy, as outlined in the official development plan. Additionally, we evaluate two proposed policies designed to relieve the pressure of bulky biomass transport on local logistic systems and to shorten the regional development disparity among three sub-regions of the region studied. By combining the above two independent but related models in Chapter 6, we arrive at a decision support system for the bioenergy industry. This system takes into account the whole bioenergy supply chain. Unlike each of the separate sub-models presented in previous chapters, the integrated model adequately depicts the interactions among the upstream and downstream of the bioenergy supply chain. Furthermore, it also describes their feedback to peripheral stakeholders such as the government, local residents, NGOs and other lobbying groups, which do not form part of the supply chain but influence the general setting for the bioenergy industry. Using this model as our analytical tool, we examine two policies aiming to promote the bioenergy industry: a comprehensive policy (a favorable taxation) and a targeted policy (a financial subsidy). Generally speaking, despite the fact that both supportive measures could significantly boost the development of the industry without necessarily jeopardizing food security, their effectiveness relies to a great extent on the scale and the objectives of these measures taken. In the last chapter, we return to our qualitative analysis. This time, however, we widen its temporal and spatial scope. First, we construct a conceptual model describing the cascade use and recycling of biomass resources. Then we compare the short-term and the long-term incentive mechanisms involved. Finally, we apply Porter's diamond model to analyze separately all the factors constituting the advantages of the bioenergy industry. We argue that an unprecedented opportunity for bioenergy industry development has come. The fundamental actors driving the development of the industry are professional bioenergy firms boasting clearly defined and well-enforced property rights, good supervision mechanisms, advanced technological background and effective management methods. Since the bioenergy industry is mostly oriented towards the domestic market, it is likely to become more competitive with the formation of an industrial cluster focused on bioenergy or by receiving appropriate support from the government. The government's intervention is justified in this context by the government's supervisory duties, legislative duties and its responsibility to provide favorable incentives. In this study, we have successfully built an integrated model covering all the actors of the bioenergy industry and proposed a sustainable development strategy for the industry in China. Nevertheless, the study has several limitations that need be overcome before it can be extended to other regions. Firstly, due to the lack of high-quality field data of energy crops plantations, the uncertainties regarding actual agricultural operations and the resultant potential ecological risks cannot be fully reflected in our study. Secondly, only bioethanol and biopower have been included in the mathematical model. In view of the wide variety of biomass conversion routes, more bioenergy products should be included in future models. ; Vor dem Hintergrund des Klimawandels und der Energiekrise hat Bioenergie in einer wachsenden Zahl von Ländern in letzter Zeit beträchtliche Aufmerksamkeit gewonnen. Zum weltweiten Energiemix trägt sie bereits heute den größten Teil bei. Zwar wird das Potenzial von Bioenergie, zu einer Reduktion der Treibhausgasemissionen beizutragen, weithin anerkannt; doch werden immer noch Bedenken in Hinblick auf ihre Nebenwirkungen geäußert. Insbesondere die befürchteten Gefahren für die Ernährungssicherheit und lokale Ökosysteme behindern die Entwicklung der Bioenergie erheblich, was wohl am besten anhand der Rolle veranschaulicht werden kann, die der Bioenergie in der Entwicklungsstrategie "Europa 2020" durch die EU zugeschrieben wird. Vor diesem Hintergrund behandelt die vorliegende Dissertation die Frage, wie eine nachhaltige Entwicklung der Bioenergieindustrie erreicht werden kann. Zur Beantwortung dieser Frage wurde eine küstennahe Provinz im Osten Chinas als Untersuchungsgebiet ausgewählt. China ist das bevölkerungsreichste Land und der größte Treibhausgasemittent der Welt. Es kann daher davon ausgegangen werden, dass die gesamte Völkergemeinschaft einige wertvolle Lehren aus den praktischen Erfahrungen ziehen kann, die China auf dem Gebiet der Bioenergie gesammelt hat. Im Anschluss an eine kurze Darstellung des Hintergrunds unserer Untersuchung in den ersten beiden Kapiteln wird im dritten Kapitel die Struktur der Bioenergiebranche skizziert und die Rolle der einzelnen Akteure beschrieben. Abhängig von deren jeweiliger Bedeutung für die Branche können diese Akteure als entweder Haupt- oder Nebenakteure klassifiziert werden. Ausgehend von der lokalen Praxis stellen wir die Entwicklung der Bioenergiebranche in China sowohl auf der Angebots- als auch auf der Nachfrageseite dar. Diese deskriptive Analyse soll dem Leser ein Grundverständnis der Bioenergiebranche in China vermitteln, auf dem die anschließende quantitative Analyse aufbaut. Das vierte Kapitel beschäftigt sich mit den Landwirten, die als zentrale Akteure am Anfang der Bioenergie-Wertschöpfungskette stehen. Mit Hilfe von GAMS entwickeln wir ein Modell zur Bereitstellung der Biomasserohstoffe, um das Reaktionsverhalten der Landwirte (den Akteuren in unserem dynamischen räumlichen Akteursmodell) auf die Herausforderungen zu simulieren, die mit dem Aufkommen der Energiepflanzen verbunden sind. Unter Verwendung dieses Modells skizzieren wir die durch die Bioenergiesparte ausgelösten Veränderungen im Bereich der Landnutzung. Hierbei legen wir die Anteile für konventionellen Anbau und Energiepflanzen an der gesamten landwirtschaftlichen Produktion auf 85% und 15% fest. Aufgrund der geographischen Beschaffenheit der Region wird für den nördlichen Teil von Jiangsu langfristig eine extensive Bewirtschaftung mit Energiepflanzen empfohlen. Darüber hinaus wurde mit Hilfe unseres Modells die positive Rolle urbar gemachten Wattenmeers als Ressource einer möglichen Entschärfung von Landnutzungskonflikten zwischen konventionellen und Energiepflanzen bestätigt. Analog zum Fokus des vierten Kapitels auf Landwirte konzentriert sich das fünfte Kapitel auf Spediteure und die Betreiber von Bioenergieanlagen, die beide ebenfalls zu der Gruppe der Hauptstakeholder gehören. Ausgehend von den Angaben zur Bioenergie-Versorgungskette, die sich aus Simulationen mit dem oben beschriebenen Modell ergeben, justieren wir das Optimierungsmodell für die Infrastruktur der Bioenergiebranche im Sinne einer Förderung der jeweiligen Leistungen. Als Ergebnis wurde ein allgemeines Muster im Hinblick auf die räumliche Verteilung von Bioenergieanlagen beobachtet: Da die Transportkosten von Biomasserohstoffe höher sind als die von Bioenergieprodukten, bevorzugt das Modell eine Entscheidung für die Platzierung von Bioenergieanlagen nahe bei den Rohstoffquellen gegenüber Nähe zu Konsumzentren. Hinsichtlich der genauen räumlichen Verteilung errechnet das Modell, dass bis zu 44% der Bioraffinerien und 62% der größten Kraftwerke im nördlichen Teil von Jiangsu errichtet werden sollten. Diese Zahlen bekräftigen die Entscheidung der Regierung, die Gegend zu einen Standort der Bioenergieproduktion zu machen, was auch im offiziellen Entwicklungsplan der Region zu finden ist. Zusätzlich werten wir zwei vorgeschlagene Handlungsweisen aus, die zur Reduktion der Auswirkungen sperriger Biomassetransporte auf die lokale Logistikinfrastruktur sowie zur Verringerung der Entwicklungsunterschiede zwischen drei Gegenden innerhalb der betrachteten Region beitragen sollen. Eine Kombination der beiden oben beschriebenen voneinander unabhängigen aber dennoch miteinander verwandten Modelle im sechsten Kapitel führt zu einem Entscheidungsunterstützungssystem für die Bioenergiebranche. Das System berücksichtigt die gesamte Bioenergieversorgungskette. Anders als die in den vorangegangenen Kapiteln beschriebenen Untermodelle bildet das integrierte Modell das Zusammenspiel zwischen den vorgelagerten und den nachgelagerten Märkten innerhalb der Bioenergiebranche hinreichend ab. Darüber hinaus beschreibt es deren Rückkopplung mit den Nebenstakeholdern, zu denen die Regierung, Bewohner, NGOs und andere Lobbygruppen gehören. Diese sind nicht Teil der Versorgungskette, haben aber einen Einfluss auf die Rahmenbedingungen der Bioenergiebranche. Unter Zuhilfenahme unseres Modells als analytisches Instrument untersuchen wir zwei Ansätze zur Förderung der Bioenergieindustrie: Eine umfassende Politik (günstige Besteuerung) und eine zielgerichtete Politik (finanzielle Förderung). Im Allgemeinen hängt die Effektivität beider Ansätze größtenteils vom Ausmaß und von den Zielsetzungen der getroffenen Maßnahmen ab. Die Herausforderung besteht darin die Förderungsmaßnahmen so auszurichten, dass sie die Branche stärken ohne die Nahrungsmittelsicherheit zu gefährden. Im letzten Kapitel kehren wir zur qualitativen Analyse zurück. Diesmal weiten wir jedoch ihren zeitlichen und räumlichen Rahmen aus. Zunächst entwickeln wir ein konzeptionelles Modell, das die Kaskadennutzung und das Recycling von Biomasseressourcen beschreibt. Daraufhin vergleichen wir die damit verbundenen kurzfristigen und langfristigen Anreizmechanismen. Zum Schluss wenden wir Porters Diamantenmodell an, um all jene Faktoren gesondert zu analysieren, die für die Bioenergiebranche Vorteile bedeuten. Wir legen dar, dass sich derzeit eine noch nie dagewesene Chance für die Entwicklung der Bioenergiebranche bietet. Bei den Hauptakteuren, die die Entwicklung der Branche antreiben, handelt es sich um professionelle Bioenergieunternehmen, die über klar definierte und gut durchsetzbare Eigentumsrechte, etablierte Kontrollmechanismen, einen fortgeschrittenen technologischen Hintergrund und effektive Managementmethoden verfügen. Da die Bioenergiebranche vor allem auf den heimischen Markt ausgerichtet ist, wird sie durch die Bildung eines Branchenclusters oder durch angemessene Förderung durch die Regierung wahrscheinlich wettbewerbsfähiger. Ein Eingreifen der Regierung ist in diesem Zusammenhang durch deren Aufsichtspflicht, deren legislative Aufgaben und deren Zuständigkeit, finanzielle Anreize zu schaffen, gerechtfertigt. In dieser Studie ist es uns gelungen, ein integriertes Modell zu entwickeln, das alle Akteure der Bioenergiebranche umfasst. Wir haben weiterhin eine Strategie zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung der Branche in China ausgearbeitet. Dennoch hat die Studie auch einige Beschränkungen, die überwunden werden müssen, bevor sie auf andere Regionen übertragen werden kann. Zum Einen können die Unsicherheiten hinsichtlich der tatsächlichen landwirtschaftlichen Erzeugung und den aus dieser resultierenden Umweltrisiken in dieser Studie aus Ermangelung hochwertiger Felddaten im Hinblick auf Energiepflanzenplantagen nicht voll und ganz reflektiert werden, zum Anderen wurden in dem mathematischen Modell nur Bioethanol und Biostrom berücksichtigt. Angesichts der großen Bandbreite an Wegen der Biomasse-Konversion sollten in künftige Modellen weitere Bioenergieprodukte eingebaut werden.

[spa] En esta tesis, a partir de identificar y describir los rasgos principales del capitalismo contemporáneo (desde 1980, aproximadamente, hasta la actualidad, julio de 2014) y de reflexionar cómo, dada su racionalidad instrumental, es capaz de alinear medios de manera altamente eficiente sin evaluar los fines, en sí mismos, que persigue, concluimos que la conformación, la fabricación del ciudadano contemporáneo, lejos de ser casual o natural, responde a las exigencias y necesidades que el propio sistema, en pos de su expansión y crecimiento, genera. Tanto en su faceta de mercancía (como fuerza de trabajo a adquirir), como en su faceta productora (en la ejecución de sus tareas y funciones) como, finalmente, en su faceta consumidora (necesaria para alimentar y acelerar el crecimiento del sistema) el ciudadano medio contemporáneo es producido por el sistema capitalista como un medio más, como un recurso más, necesario para su propia expansión. En su caracterización contemporánea el ciudadano medio es elegido y excluido por el sistema en función de su competitividad global comparada estando, en cierta manera, predestinado a su exclusión, más temprana que tardía, desde el mismo momento de su inclusión. Este proceso de inclusión y exclusión es liderado, ejecutado, en buena medida, por los sujetos caracterizados en nuestra tesis (la alta dirección de las empresas multinacionales cotizadas, representativas de la mitad del Producto Interior Bruto mundial). Específicamente, en lo que respecta a estas figuras, profundizamos en cómo son fabricadas y constituidas como mercancías de alto valor añadido completamente alineadas con los criterios, valores y carácter que el sistema capitalista contemporáneo requiere. La separación entre propiedad y gestión, la maximización de beneficios en el menor plazo, la exigida servidumbre al reino del capital impaciente apátrida y global, el cambio permanente y acelerado y, por último, la competitividad, el crecimiento y la expansión global se traducen en una serie de conocimientos, habilidades, competencias, criterios y valores con los que estos ciudadanos son global e uniformemente producidos (tanto a partir de las realidades empresariales de estas corporaciones multinacionales, de sus culturas corporativas, como, de manera más específica, en las escuelas de negocios) para estar alineados con los fines y para ser capaces de alcanzar los objetivos que el sistema capitalista contemporáneo define y necesita. En su faceta productiva, en el ejercicio de sus funciones, estos gestores son el paradigma de la instrumentalidad del razonamiento del sistema alineando medios para maximizar beneficios en el menor plazo y así tratar de mantener la competitividad global comparada que, sin duda, se les exige. En paralelo, la utilización de todos los medios a su alcance (asesores y consultores especializados) para separar el poder que atesoran de la responsabilidad que se les pudiese atribuir en función de los resultados que de sus decisiones pudieran derivarse, se convierte en una característica clave de estos gestores. En la persecución de la máxima rentabilidad todos los medios disponibles son utilizados, estén estos avalados o sancionados por otros poderes contemporáneos (legales o políticos) o por consideraciones éticas o morales. El fin que, en su condición de primeros ejecutivos de estas multinacionales deben inexorablemente alcanzar, la maximización de beneficios en el menor plazo y la expansión global del propio sistema, dada su conformación en criterios y valores, justifica cualquier toma de decisiones y/o curso de acción en su faceta ejecutiva. Como consumidores, aun a pesar de su alto poder adquisitivo y sus múltiples opciones de compra, acaban, en lo que a sus consumos se refiere, conformando un "habitus", una pertenencia fáctica al colectivo que estas figuras conforman de modo y manera que les haga reconocibles y les califique como pertenecientes a una élite que, en ocasiones, se convierte en consumidor de referencia. De manera más sintomática, se constituyen como los auténticos consumidores de otros ciudadanos mediante la toma de decisiones ejecutivas para la que han sido conformados. Se constituyen, como figuras emblemáticas que son del capitalismo contemporáneo, en la encarnación del espíritu de dicho capitalismo y en el brazo ejecutor de su expansión, quedando las posibles consecuencias de sus actos, sociales o individuales (aquellas de índole no económico ni financiero con repercusión en el corto plazo) fuera del análisis y/o de los objetivos a alcanzar. Nuestras conclusiones, que conjugan la experiencia y el conocimiento directo de estas figuras (con entrevistas en profundidad realizadas a 400 de estos gestores durante más de veinte años), una visión "desde dentro", y la reflexión filosófica, externa al propio sistema, una visión "desde fuera", nos permite caracterizar por primera vez a estas figuras y mostrar no sólo su relevancia y paradigmático e instrumental alineamiento con los criterios del capitalismo contemporáneo, sino también la dramática eficiencia y la implacable eficacia del capitalismo contemporáneo en la violenta conformación del ciudadano que el sistema necesita para su expansión, aunque ni su crecimiento ni la globalización, ni sus consecuencias, responda a unos fines que hayan sido pensados ni valorados por la instrumentalidad del razonamiento del sistema. ; [eng] In this thesis, after identifying and describing the main features of contemporary capitalism (since 1980, approximately, to present, July 2014) and after reflecting on how, given its instrumental rationality, it is capable of aligning means highly efficiently without evaluating the final objectives, in themselves, that the system itself is chasing, we conclude that the conformation, the production of the contemporary citizen, far from casual or natural, responds to the demands and needs that the capitalism, focused in its expansion and growth, itself generates. Both in his role as merchandise (such as labor force to acquire), and his production role (in the execution of their tasks and functions) and finally in the consumer role (needed to power and accelerate the growth of the system) the contemporary average citizen is produced by the capitalist system as a tool, as a resource necessary for its own expansion. In its contemporary characterization the average citizen is chosen and excluded by the system in terms of its overall compared competitiveness being, in some way, predestined to their exclusion, earlier than later, from the time of its inclusion. This process of inclusion and exclusion is led, performed, largely by the subjects characterized in our thesis (senior management of listed multinational companies, representing half of global GDP). Specifically, with regard to these figures, we delve into how they are made and constituted as high value-added goods completely aligned with the criteria, values and character that contemporary capitalism requires. The key features of this system: the separation between ownership and management, maximizing profits in the shortest possible period, the required easement to the kingdom of eager stateless and global capital, permanent and rapid change and, finally, competitiveness, growth and global expansion; translate into a range of specific knowledge, skills, competencies, criteria and values that these citizens have to have, as they are globally and uniformly produced (both from business realities of these multinational corporations, their corporate cultures, and, more specifically, in business schools) in order to be aligned with the system's goals and in order to be able to achieve the objectives defined by the contemporary capitalist system and its very demanding needs. In its productive role, in the exercise of their functions, these managers are the paradigm of the instrumentality of the reasoning of aligning means to maximize profits in the shortest period and, therefore, fighting to maintain the global competitiveness that, undoubtedly, is required from their actions. In parallel, the use of all means available (specialized consultants) to separate the power they have from the responsibility that it could be attributed to them (according to the bad results that, potentially, could appear due to their decisions), becomes a key feature in the production role of these managers. Additionally, in the pursuit of maximum returns all available means are used, regardless if they are endorsed or sanctioned by other (legal or political) powers or other contemporary ethical or moral considerations. The goal they must inevitably reach, in his role as chief executives of these multinationals, is maximizing profits in the shortest period of time and, at the same time, the overall and global expansion of the system itself. Considering their conformation, according to the criteria and values of the contemporary capitalism, their decisions, actions and their consequences are always justified according to the contemporary capitalism criteria. As consumers, even despite their high purchasing power and the multiple buying options they have, they end up, just in what their consumption is concerned, forming a "habitus", a factual belonging to the group that these figures conform. Doing so, following a not previously defined but yet existing buying pattern, contributes to make them recognizable and qualifies them as belonging to an elite that often becomes a type of "consumer of reference". More symptomatically, these figures constitute the real consumers of other citizens by executing their decision making process for which they have been produced. They are, as one of the more emblematic figures of contemporary capitalism, the incarnation of the spirit of the capitalism and the implementation arm of its expansion, leaving the possible consequences of their actions, social or individual (those with non-economic or financial nature) out of their analysis and out of the objectives and goals to be achieved. Our findings, which combine the experience with and the direct knowledge of these figures (in-depth interviews with 400 of these senior managers during the last twenty years), a vision "from within"; and a philosophical reflection, external to the system itself, a view "from outside"; allows us to characterize these figures for the first time. These combined exercises also allow us to show, not only their relevance and their paradigmatic and instrumental alignment with the criteria of contemporary capitalism, but also the dramatic efficiency and relentless effectiveness of contemporary capitalism in violently shaping the kind of citizen that the system needs for its own expansion. Although neither its expansion and growth nor globalization, nor its consequences, have been thought and evaluated by the instrumentality of the reasoning of the contemporary capitalism.

Bei globaler Betrachtung ist kein Sektor innerhalb der Nahrungsproduktionswirtschaft während der vergangenen vier Jahrzehnte so schnell gewachsen wie die Aquakultur. Diese Entwicklung kann in Deutschland und Niedersachsen nicht beobachtet werden. Aquakultur wird hierzulande insbesondere in klein strukturierten bäuerlichen Haupt- und Nebenerwerbsbetrieben sowie in Hobby- und Vereinshaltungen betrieben. Fischseuchen können die Ertragsleistung der Aquakultur in erheblichem Umfang beeinträchtigen. Zum Schutz des Menschen, der Aquakulturtiere und der Produktivität der Aquakulturwirtschaft wurden Vorschriften erlassen, die der Vorbeugung und Bekämpfung anzeigepflichtiger Fischseuchen dienen. Im Zuge der Umsetzung der Aquakulturrichtlinie 2006/88/EG bedarf es u. a. der Genehmigung oder Registrierung von Aquakulturbetrieben, die seitens der zuständigen Behörden möglichst lückenlos zu erfassen sind. Das Risikoniveau genehmigter Aquakulturbetriebe ist festzustellen, um die Überwachungsfrequenz dieser Betriebe zu bestimmen. Deutschland und Niedersachsen gelten als nicht frei in Bezug auf die anzeigepflichtigen Fischseuchen VHS, IHN und KHV-Infektion. Im Hinblick auf die Ausbruchsinzidenz und die Beeinträchtigung der Produktionserträge haben hierzulande die Salmonidenseuche VHS und die Karpfenseuche KHV-Infektion die größte Bedeutung. Im Rahmen dieser Studie konnte anhand der Erfassung von Fischhaltungsbetrieben zwischen 2001 und 2008 bestätigt werden, dass die Aquakulturwirtschaft in Niedersachsen insbesondere von einem hohen Anteil (60,5 %) Hobbyhaltungen geprägt ist. Im Rahmen der Erfassung gaben die Betreiber von 69 (6,0 %) respektive 68 (5,9 %) von insgesamt 1.143 erfassten Fischhaltungen an, im Haupt- bzw. Nebenerwerb tätig zu sein. Die Daten zur Betriebsstruktur bestätigen, dass in Niedersachsen Tätigkeiten der Aquakultur fast ausschließlich in klein strukturierten bäuerlichen Betrieben nachgegangen werden. Die Art der Durchführung der Erfassung lässt jedoch statistische Aussagen zur Entwicklung und zum Stand der Aquakultur nicht zu. Es wurden im Vergleich zu der Erfassung von niedersächsischen Fischhaltungsbetrieben zwischen 1983 und 1995 deutlich weniger Betriebe erfasst; daher muss von einer Untererfassung ausgegangen werden. Als möglicher Grund für die Untererfassung kann die zunehmende Zurückhaltung der Tierhalter in Bezug auf die Forderung der umfassenden Transparenz in Betracht gezogen werden. Eine einheitliche Regelung und Methodik zur Erfassung von Aquakulturbetrieben in Niedersachsen gemäß den Vorschriften Fischseuchenverordnung vom 24.11.2008 ist unabdingbar. Die Rahmenbedingungen dafür wurden auf Basis von Erkenntnissen dieser Studie bereits geschaffen. Die Entscheidung 2008/896/EG bietet den zuständigen Behörden ein vereinfachtes Verfahren zur Abschätzung des Risikoniveaus, bei dem die Risikobewertung nicht linear, sondern mittels Gruppeneinstufung erfolgt. Im Rahmen dieser Studie wurde ein lineares Rechenmodell zur Ermittlung des Risikoniveaus von Aquakulturbetrieben entwickelt. Insgesamt 75 niedersächsische Aquakulturbetriebe haben sich an der Erhebung von Daten zur Risikobewertung mit Hilfe dieses Rechenmodells beteiligt. Unter Verwendung dieses Rechenmodells wird das Risikoniveau unter Berücksichtigung unterschiedlicher Gewichtungen der Risikofaktoren linear ermittelt. Es kann geschlussfolgert werden, dass trotz der Komplexität der Risikofaktoren das Rechenmodell in der Praxis einsetzbar ist und im Vergleich zum vereinfachten Verfahren der Entscheidung 2008/896/EG Ergebnisse liefern, die der tatsächlichen Risikolage besser entsprechen. Darüber hinaus ist als Ergebnis dieser Studie eine unterschiedliche Gewichtung des Risikos der Einschleppung und des Risikos der Ausbreitung von Krankheiten bei der Bestimmung des Risikoniveaus zu befürworten. Im Rahmen dieser Studie wurde das Risiko der Einschleppung mit einem 70 %igen und das Risiko der Ausbreitung mit einem 30 %igen Anteil angenommen. Das Rechenmodell zur linearen semi-quantitativen Bestimmung ist flexibel einsetzbar und kann jederzeit neueren Erkenntnissen angepasst werden. Die Auswertung der Tierseuchendatenbank TSN© hat im Hinblick auf die Fischseuchen VHS, IHN und KHV-Infektion ergeben, dass die jährliche Inzidenz der VHS in Deutschland seit 1995 abgenommen hat, jedoch der relative Anteil in Niedersachsen seit einigen Jahren tendenziell zunimmt. Im Falle der KHV-Infektion werden im weltweiten Vergleich sehr viele Ausbrüche in Deutschland amtlich festgestellt, wobei die Vorschriften zur Meldung von Tierseuchenausbrüchen hierzulande auch für Zierfische konsequent umgesetzt werden. Die Zahl der KHV-Ausbrüche bei Koikarpfen ist seit 2007 deutlich rückläufig, während diese Entwicklung bei Nutzkarpfen nicht bestätigt werden kann. Allerdings ist der Anteil KHV-Befunde bei Nutzkarpfen im Vergleich zu Koikarpfen deutlich geringer. Im Hinblick auf die KHV-Infektion wird die Bekämpfung durch die Tatsache erschwert, dass in der Regel weder Zierfischhandlungen noch Gartenteiche der Eigenkontroll- und Überwachungsverpflichtung gemäß der FischSeuchV unterliegen. Es ist daher von großer Bedeutung, dass eine deutliche Trennung der Nutz- und Zierfischhaltung gesichert wird. Darüber hinaus kann nicht ausgeschlossen werden, dass es bereits zu einer Durchseuchung der Aquakulturbetriebe und der natürlichen Gewässern mit diesem Erreger gekommen ist. Das KHV wurde in Niedersachsen jedoch bis dato nicht in teichwirtschaftlichen Betrieben mit Nutzkarpfenproduktion nachgewie-sen. Die IHN wird gemäß Auswertung der TSN©-Daten im Vergleich zu der VHS und der KHV-Infektion in Deutschland und in Niedersachsen deutlich seltener nachgewiesen. Allerdings verlaufen IHN-Infektionen häufig stumm und werden demnach u. U. amtlich nicht festgestellt. Im Zuge der Auswertung der seitens der zuständigen Behörden erhobenen epidemiologischen Angaben in der Tierseuchendatenbank TSN© konnte festgestellt werden, dass der Einschleppungsweg sehr häufig als unbekannt angegeben wurde. Sofern konkrete Angaben zum gesicherten oder vermuteten Einschleppungsweg gemacht wurden, überwog die Angabe Zukauf deutlich. Als Erkenntnis aus dieser Studie ist v. a. festzustellen, dass die Art der Erfassung epidemiologischer Daten zu Ausbrüchen von Fischseuchen in der Tierseuchendatenbank TSN© der Anpassung an die besonderen Eigenschaften der Produktionsform Aquakultur und der Fischseuchen bedarf, um die statistische Aussagekraft zu verbessern. Im Hinblick auf das Potenzial der niedersächsischen Aquakulturwirtschaft vor dem Hintergrund der Seuchenentwicklung und der Vorschriften der Fischseuchenbekämpfung kann geschlussfolgert werden, dass die traditionelle und die intensive Aquakulturwirtschaft in Niedersachsen sich nur weiterentwickeln kann, wenn die Tierhalter gemeinsam Anstrengungen zur Optimierung der Betriebshygiene und des Betriebsmanagements sowie zur Minimierung des Risikos der Erregereinschleppung unternehmen. Es müssen aber auch politische bzw. behördliche Rahmenbedingungen geschaffen werden, die eine Weiterentwicklung der Aquakultur ermöglichen und fördern. ; From a global view no sector within the food producing chain has grown so fast as aquaculture production business during the past four decades. However this development can neither be observed for Germany nor for the Federal State of Lower Saxony. In Germany aquaculture production is mainly practised in small-scale hand-craft professional and semi-professional fish farms as well as on hobby and angling association sites. Fish epizootics may have a severe negative impact on aquaculture production yield. In order to protect humans, aquaculture animals and the productivity of aquaculture governmental instructions have been introduced which aim at the prevention and control of notifiable fish diseases. In the course of the implementation of the Council Directive 2006/88/EC authorisation and registration of aquaculture production business is required. A gapless estimation of all fish farms within the area of responsibility should be achieved. The risk level of all authorised aquaculture production business has to be determined. Germany as well as the Federal State of Lower Saxony are not free of the notifiable fish diseases VHS, IHN and KHVD. With regard to the incidence of outbreaks and the impact on the production yield the salmonid disease VHS and the carp disease KHVD are of greatest importance over here. Within the scope of this study it could be confirmed by means of a census of fish farms between 2001 and 2008 that aquaculture production business in Lower Saxony is characterised by a large proportion (60,5 %) of hobby sites. 69 (6,0 %) re-spectively 68 (5,9 %) of the aquaculture production business operators from a total of 1.143 fish production sites indicated that they are operating professional respec-tively semi-professional farms. Farm structure data confirm that aquaculture business in Lower Saxony is practiced almost exclusively in small-scale hand-craft fish farms. However the method of census carried out by the competent authorities does not allow concrete statistical statements with regard to the development and the state of aquaculture in Lower Saxony. Compared to the census carried out be-tween 1983 and 1995 considerably less data could be gathered now. Therefore an underestimation of aquaculture production business must be presumed. One of the reasons for this might be some degree of reluctancy of fish farmers with regard to the transparency of their farm data. However in the course of the German Fish Epizootics Control Regulation a uniform regulation and method for estimation of all aquaculture business in Lower Saxony is indispensable. Basic conditions for this have been established based on the knowledge of this study. The Commission Decision 2008/896/EC provides a simplified method to determine the risk level of aquaculture production business by non-linear risk group classification. Within the scope of this study a risk model has been developed for linear estimation of the risk level. A total of 75 Lower Saxony fish farms have provided data in order to estimate their risk level using this calculation model. Having regard to different weightings of several risk factors the risk level has been calculated in a linear way. It can be concluded that in spite of the complexity of the risk factors this calculation model is well suited for use in practice and that in comparison to the method according to Commission Decision 2008/896/EC the results of this modelling correspond better to the actual risk level. Furthermore as a result of this study a different weighting of the risk of introduction and the risk of spreading of disease must be highly recommended. Within the frame of this study a proportion of 70 % has been assumed for the risk of introduction and a proportion of 30 % has been assumed for the risk spreading of a disease. This linear calculation model is flexible and weightings can be changed whenever it is necessary due to actual knowledge. The analysis of the animal epizootics database TSN© showed in case of epidemiological data on VHS, IHN and KHVD that the yearly incidence of VHS in Germany decreased since 1995. However the relative proportion of VHS-outbreaks in Lower Saxony tends to increase during the same period of time. In case of KHVD and compared to the world-wide epidemiological data on this disease many outbreaks have been notified in Germany according to the pertinent regulations since 2006. In that context it is important to mention that reporting of KHVD outbreaks in ornamental fish populations is carried out consistently. The incidence of KHVD outbreaks in koi carp populations is descending distinctly since 2007. However this development is not observed for food carp, although the incidence of KHVD-outbreaks in food carp populations is much lower compared to koi carp populations. Control of KHVD is impaired due to the fact that as a rule ornamental fish trade business as well as garden ponds are not obliged to carry out self-monitoring measures and are not under official surveillance. Therefore it is of great importance to have a clear separation between ornamental fish and food fish aquaculture. Furthermore a high seroprevalence of KHV in carp farms and natural waters cannot be ruled out. However KHVD has not been detected in food carp pond culture in Lower Saxony until now. Compared to VHS and KHVD the salmonid disease IHN shows a much lower incidence in Germany as well as in Lower Saxony. In many cases infections with IHN however tend to show no clinical signs of disease and therefore a high risk of not recognising the disease exists. The data evaluation of the epidemiological data base TSN© showed that the route of disease introduction could not be confidently determined for most of the VHS, IHN and KHVD outbreaks. Most of the cases where information on the route of disease introduction has been provided were dealing with purchasing live fish. As a result of this study it must be concluded that in case of fish epizootics the method of collecting epidemiological information in the animal epizootics data base TSN© has to be adopted to the special characteristics of aquaculture production business as well as to the special characteristics of fish epizootics in order to allow statistical statements. Finally with regard to the potential of Lower Saxony aquaculture business in relation with the development of fish epizootics and the existence of fish epizootics regulations it can be concluded that traditional pond fish culture as well as intensive aquaculture may only develop over here if the fish farmer in Lower Saxony make serious joint efforts to optimise biosecurity and farm management and to minimise the risk of introducing diseases. Political and regulatory conditions must be established in order to enable and support the development of aquaculture in Lower Saxony.

Although scientific knowledge is considered by many a universal and context-free product, its producers are often embedded in geographically bounded networks of research collaboration. However, in an age of globalisation these local networks of knowledge production are challenged by pressures to make science more efficient and to align its priorities with problems of global relevance such as climate change and worldwide epidemics. Against this background, the dissertation sets out to examine changes in the contemporary geography of research collaboration and explores how these changes affect the publication of research findings in scientific journals. The dissertation starts with introducing a framework to understand how geographical space structures research collaboration among researchers. The two structuring principles in this framework are a logic of proximity that provides solutions for coordination problems in research practice, and a logic of stratification that provides researchers with differential means to engage in collaborations. The logic of proximity mainly follows from the importance of physical co-presence both for carrying out the complex tasks associated with scientific research and for establishing trust in research results. The logic of stratification is an outcome of the reward system in science which provides differential credit to researchers on the base of their past productivity. Globalisation affects these logics through technological advancements in ICTs and mobility, and through the harmonisation of research policies and practices across territories. It is hypothesised in this dissertation that these changes have implications for geographical patterns of research collaboration, and also for the way research findings are communicated in scientific publications. The empirical validation of this framework centers around two main themes that very much bear the imprint of globalisation in science. The first theme concerns the research policies of the European Union that are focused on the harmonisation of regional and national institutions in Europe in order to create an integrated 'European Research Area' (ERA) which should make the European research system more efficient and competitive. The Framework Programmes are explicitly designed to facilitate this integration process and in doing so they fund thousands of transnational research projects making it the largest transnational funding scheme in the world. Against this background, Chapter 2 evaluates the extent to which European research collaboration networks are already spatially integrated based on publication and patent data with multiple addresses. The results indicate that research collaborations in Europe are structured by geographical proximities as the choice for collaboration partners is impeded both by the kilometric distance between researchers and by national borders separating them. The chapter also presents some evidence that research collaboration networks are stratified on the base of similarity in productivity and access to resources. This logic of stratification operates irrespective of the location of researchers vis-à-vis each other. The main conclusion that follows from this analysis is that the present efforts towards the creation of ERA are well justified. The empirical study in Chapter 3 develops a dynamic approach to the geography of research collaboration by studying whether the logic of proximity is changing over time. The main argument of this chapter holds that one should make a conceptual distinction between a possible changing effect of geographical distance and a possible changing effect of territorial borders when studying proximity dynamics in research collaboration networks. When making such a distinction in the context of the European research system, the chapter shows that it is primarily the importance of regional and national borders that is decreasing over time, but that the role of geographical proximity in structuring research collaborations is remarkably stable. The findings indicate that globalisation in science is mainly realised through the harmonisation of territorial institutions, but that physical co-presence remains an important coordination device for exchanging complex forms of knowledge that cannot be easily communicated over large distances. The objective of Chapter 4 is to study to what extent the Framework Programmes (FPs), as the main funding instrument of the European Commission, are affecting the geography of European research collaboration. It is hypothesised that, in case the FPs indeed render territorial borders less important, they are likely to create (new) stratified networks of research collaboration that disproportionally consists of high-performance researchers located in Europe's core regions. Contrary to the expectation no evidence for this hypothesis is found. The presented analysis indicates that the FPs indeed have a substantial effect on promoting international scientific collaboration networks which are still relatively uncommon in comparison to national collaboration networks. However, it is also shown that acquisition of FP funding is rather equally distributed over Europe and that the FPs are more effective in establishing ties between poorly connected researchers than in further strengthening existing ones. When stimulating already existing networks the FPs run the risk of being a substitute for other funding sources. This implies that current EU research policy is in line with the cohesion objective of the European Union. The second theme of this dissertation concerns the global standardization of medical experiments on human subjects. In recent years, proponents of an evidence-based medicine have pushed for standards concerning the conduct of clinical trials and subsequent publication of research findings in clinical trial registers and scientific publications. This standardization process is closely linked to an increase in the number and size of clinical trials that involve scientific researchers and patients from across the globe. The empirical chapters address whether this standardization process has an effect on several aspects of scientific publishing including the constitution of authorship on publications, the communication of evidence after study completion, and the presence of error in scientific publications. In order to analyse these questions, a database is created that links information on registered clinical trial projects (www.clinicaltrials.gov) to scientific publications of the main findings after study completion. Chapter 5 focuses in this respect on the standardization of good clinical practice (ICH-GCP) which has made the exchange of clinical data between geographically dispersed research sites less complicated. This has resulted in a process of global outsourcing with increasing enrolment of patients from emerging economies, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. The chapter describes this globalisation tendency and studies whether worldwide patient involvement in clinical trials is reflected in the geographical composition of scientific management teams in those trials. The chapter develops an empirical strategy to determine the geographical distribution of management teams by using authorship data from publications reporting on primary outcomes. On the basis of this data it is shown that, given patient involvement, authorships are disproportionally granted to researchers in a few leading countries. The chapter discusses possible adverse consequences of this situation especially concerning the monitoring of clinical trial quality and (the lack of) interactions between researchers that are in immediate contact with patients and researchers that design trials and interpret their results. Chapter 6 concentrates on the publication behaviour of pharmaceutical companies who are well known for their strategy to withhold negative research findings from the scientific literature. To remedy this situation several authorities have recently mandated both registration of clinical trials before study onset and publication of major research findings after study completion. The main question holds under what conditions pharmaceutical companies decide to publish their clinical trial findings either in scientific journals or on the web. The main hypothesis is that under the new institutional context pharmaceutical companies will continue to highlight positive results in the scientific literature as it provides them with certification that their research findings are scientifically sound, methodologically rigourous and thus credible. Negative results, by contrast, are expected to be published on the web. This hypothesis is tested against a sample of clinical trials that assess the efficacy of glucose lowering agents in diabetes patients. The results indicate that firms continue to highlight positive results in scientific journals which results in an ongoing and persistent bias of evidence in the literature. Finally, Chapter 7 studies the production and detection of error in scientific publications on the basis of published errata and retractions. It is derived from earlier chapters that geographical proximity remains an important coordination device in research practice. This begs the question whether researchers operating in geographically dispersed research projects are also more likely to produce error because effective peer-control may be lacking and the establishment of mutual understanding hindered. The chapter addresses this question by making a conceptual distinction between modes of coordination that influence error production, and the prestige of research findings that influences error detection. With respect to prestige of research the chapter shows that editorial policies of scientific journals may actively steer the process of error detection by organising impact around particular findings and by enforcing strict publication guidelines. After controlling for these factors the analysis finds that geographically distributed research results in less accurate scientific publication. Globalisation tendencies thus put increasing responsibility on the publication system to correct errors in publications. Based on the findings of the empirical chapters, the overall conclusion of the dissertation is three-fold. The first conclusion holds that changes in the contemporary geography of research collaboration are mainly visible in institutional harmonisation across territories, rather than in a tendency towards a 'death of distance' per se. This paradoxical process provides new prospects for worldwide research collaborations, but limits at the same time the possibilities to make these prospects work in actual research practice. Second, the presented analysis indicates that in an age of globalisation, science does not become a global level playing field where chances of success level off. Rather, stratified structures are reproduced at different spatial scales via the creation of new reward systems and global research collaboration network that exhibit high entry barriers. Third, globalised science reveals new publication practices that concern authorship norms, the prevalence and correction of error in scientific publications and the conditions under which disclosure of research findings takes place. In this respect, new global contexts have often been cited as contributors to the quality, impact and practical application of research findings. The results presented here do not support the argument and at least point to some potential side-effects of geographically distributed research. These effects require a rethinking of science's institutions in light of globalisation.

A broader urban strategy to promote global competitiveness has been an increasing interest in both academic global discourses and practical policy arena. To achieve global competitiveness, attracting highly skilled expatriates is often deemed essential especially in globalizing Asian urban centers. They are believed to bring foreign capitals, advanced ideas and technologies that would multiply the economic development effects. It is thus of increasing importance for many Asian global cities to provide satisfactory housing for the upper echelon of foreign labors. Shanghai and Seoul provide contrasting cases of housing the highly skilled foreigners as they have followed two different paths that are distinguished for being 'planned' and 'evolved'. The purpose of the dissertation is to understand the formative process of Shanghai's deliberately planned and Seoul's evolved foreign communities and their resultant transnational urbanism. Specifically, it is to examine 1) in what different ways the two urban strategies have influenced the formation of foreign communities; 2) how and to what degrees the two community environments have affected the everyday life of the expatriate residents and their perception of the cities in which they reside; and 3) whether the two environments are associated with the degree of segregation and integration in the two host cities. To accomplish these objectives, the study focuses on selected foreign residential communities in Shanghai's Pudong area and Seoul's central area. The comparative study employs literature content analysis, field observation, questionnaire survey and semi-structured interview in investigating public policy, residential form, everyday life, and residents' perception for selected case study areas. The study shows the different global policies of Shanghai and Seoul in providing foreign residential services. Compared to Shanghai's deliberate provision of foreign communities since the early 1990s, Seoul's approach was more ad hoc and spontaneous until the early 2000s. Shanghai has concentrated the expatriate residential communities in Pudong area through public physical planning aimed at subsequent entrepreneurial real estate development. The provision of a 'complete package' of services and amenities for foreigners resulted in the form of a series of large exclusive foreign compounds which is walled, gated and closely guarded. In contrast, the foreign communities in Seoul have incrementally evolved in central area without any active government involvement. Being formed naturally around an US army base or an international school, they are integrated in relatively high-income residential neighborhoods and do not show any clear demarcation. Supportive services are dispersed throughout the city in areas with a large foreign population. The study finds that these different approaches and residential form have affected everyday life of residing foreigners differently. The everyday life in Shanghai's expatriate families is more introverted and self-contained as their daily or weekly needs are mostly fulfilled within the compounds. Their exclusiveness and expatriate-oriented amenities have encouraged congregation of expatriates while reducing contact with the local Chinese people. The international schools in close proximity have fostered school-focused communities. In Seoul, the integrated nature of residential form and the relatively dispersed location of amenities have resulted in a wider radius of movement around the neighborhood and within the city. These movements allow for a greater number of 'contact zones' with host country nationals. In Seoul, the expatriate associations act as foci of Seoul's expatriate communities. Hence, concerning integration and segregation in relation to the host city, Shanghai is more socially segregated, while Seoul is more integrated. Despite the differences in residential form and everyday life patterns, this study shows remarkably similar levels of residential satisfaction in both cities. In some aspects such as schooling, Shanghai's residents are more satisfied than Seoul's expatriates studied. However, carefully planned Shanghai's compounds do not outscore Seoul's spontaneously formed neighborhoods in terms of the built environment, amenities, transportation and safety. These similar satisfaction levels reflect the existing level of livability in each city. It means that Seoul has been able to house highly skilled foreign labors as well as Shanghai even without equivalent efforts. This aspect of livability level is also ascertained in the different criteria for residential location of the foreigners in each city. Housing condition and safety are most seriously considered in Shanghai's expatriates, reflecting their perception on the livability of this city. While this justifies the provision of exclusive foreign residential compounds in Shanghai, the study suggest that expatriates in these two cities prefer authenticity in experiencing the local culture and social interaction with the people in their host cities rather than being segregated among themselves in a foreign enclave. The study does not investigate whether a planned foreign community is a prerequisite of attracting foreign capitals and high-level employment. Nonetheless, these findings point to practical and academic implications regarding the globalizing strategy of East Asian cities to attract the highly skilled. First, the validity of urban policy to provide foreign residences needs to be grounded on an understanding of the place-specific context. Whether a city needs planned expatriate communities depends on the different conditions in each city such as the local level of housing quality, living amenity, public safety, and access to public transportation. Second, if integration rather than segregation is adopted as a public goal to be pursued in this era of globalization, an evolved expatriate community is preferable to a planned exclusive community. This dissertation reports that expatriates themselves prefer more integrated living with local communities. However, as Seoul shows, physical integration does not lead to full social integration as cultural and language barriers persist. Finally, from a theoretical front, this dissertation draws attention to the place-specific, everyday-life aspects of transnational urbanism. By depicting the daily experiences of expatriate spouses in two globalizing Asian cities, it shows the possibilities of greater interaction between foreigners and local residents while enhancing their community-based livability and residential satisfaction. ; 글로벌 경제체제 속에서 도시 경쟁력은 학계의 글로벌 담론과 실질적인 정책분야에서 모두 큰 관심사이다. 전문직 외국인을 유치하는 것은 글로벌 경쟁력을 확보하기 위한 효과적인 도시전략으로 인식되고 있다. 이들은 경제개발 효과를 증대시키는 외자유치, 선진 아이디어와 기술을 가져오는 것으로 여겨지기 때문이다. 이에 따라 아시아권 글로벌도시들은 전문직 외국인을 유치하기 위하여 이들에게 만족할만한 주거지를 제공하는 것을 중요한 글로벌 전략으로 채택하고 있다. 상해와 서울은 전문직 외국인주거지에 관하여 '계획된(planned)' 것과 '점진적인(evolved)' 것으로 대비되는 서로 다른 사례를 보여준다. 본 논문의 목적은 상해의 의도적으로 계획된 전문직 외국인주거지와 서울의 점진적으로 진화된 외국인거주지 형성과정과 이를 통해 나타나는 글로벌도시의 초국가적 도시현상(transnational urbanism)을 이해하는데 있다. 보다 구체적으로 말하면, 다음 세 가지를 규명하고자 한다. 첫째, 상해와 서울의 전문직 외국인 주거지에 대한 공공정책은 무엇이었으며, 그 결과로서 어떻게 다른 주거지 환경특성을 갖게 되었는가를 파악한다. 둘째, 각각 다른 거주환경이 전문직 외국인들의 일상생활과 주거환경에 대한 만족도, 그리고 그들이 거주하는 도시를 바라보는 시각에 어떤 영향을 미쳤는지를 규명한다. 셋째, 각기 다른 주거지 환경특성에 따라 외국인 거주자들과 현지인들 사이에 교류의 차이가 나타나는지를 분석한다. 이 목적을 위하여, 전문직 외국인이 집중적으로 거주하는 상해의 포동지역과 서울의 서래마을, 한남동 및 이태원 지역을 비교분석한다. 연구방법은 관련자료, 문헌 및 정부문서에 대한 내용분석, 상해와 서울 두 도시의 사례대상지에 대한 현지조사, 설문과 심층면접을 포함한다. 본 논문은 외국인거주지 조성에 관한 글로벌도시전략과 외국인 주거지의 물리적 특성, 이에 따른 외국인의 일상생활 및 거주 만족도, 각 도시의 주민과의 사회적 교류정도에 있어서 상해와 서울이 나타내는 차이를 보여준다. 1990년대 초부터 계획적으로 진행해 온 상해의 외국인거주지 전략과 비교해보았을 때, 2000년대 초반부터 시행된 서울의 전략은 단편적이고 소극적이다. 상해는 포동지역에 전문직 외국인을 위한 거주지를 조성하는데 있어서, 물리적 환경조성을 위한 공공계획을 수립하고 민간기업의 부동산개발을 유도하였다. 외국인주거단지는 서비스와 부대시설의 '완전패키지(complete package)' 형태로 공급되어, 엄격한 경비와 높은 담장을 두른 외부와 격리된 외국인 전용 복합주거 군으로 개발되었다. 이에 반해, 서울의 외국인 커뮤니티는 정부의 적극적인 개입 없이 점진적으로 도심지역에 형성되었다. 미군부대나 국제학교 주변에서 자연스럽게 형성되다가, 고소득층 거주지역과 통합되고 분명한 경계선이 없이 형성되었다. 전문직 외국인을 위한 지원시설도 외국인 거주지와 도시전역에 분산되어 있다. 이러한 차이에 따라 두 도시에 거주하는 전문직 외국인들의 일상생활은 다른 양상을 보여준다. 상해에 거주하는 외국인 가족의 서울에 비해 내향적이며 자급적(self-contained)이다. 상해의 외국인 거주지의 배타적(exclusive)인 성격과 외국인 거주민을 위한 집중된 생활편의시설(amenity)은 외국인들의 결속을 유도하는 반면, 현지 중국인들과의 교류는 감소시켰다. 외국인들간의 사회적 교류는 외국인주거지 근처에 위치한 국제학교를 중심으로 이루어지고 있다. 반면 서울은, 주거지의 형태가 한국인 주거지와 통합적 특성을 갖고 부대시설이 상대적으로 흩어져있기 때문에 활동반경이 주거지를 중심으로 광범위하거나 도시전체에 해당된다. 때문에 현지주민들과 접촉할 기회가 상대적으로 더 많고, 외국인 커뮤니티의 사회적 교류는 외국인협회를 중심으로 일어나고 있다. 따라서, 현지인과의 사회적 통합/격리 차원에서 볼 때, 상해는 보다 격리된 반면 서울은 상대적으로 통합되어 있다. 이런 주거지 형태와 일상생활의 패턴에서 나타나는 차이에도 불구하고, 서울과 상해에서 사는 외국인들의 거주지에 대한 만족도는 상당히 유사함을 보여준다. 교육적 측면에서 보았을 때, 상해에 거주하는 외국인들이 서울보다 만족 정도가 다소 높음을 보여주었지만, 그 밖에 건조환경(built environment), 생활편의시설(amenity), 교통, 그리고 안전성의 측면에서는 신중하게 계획된 상해의 복합주거지나 자연발생적으로 형성된 서울의 외국인 거주지나 만족도에서 주목할 만한 차이가 없다. 이처럼 유사한 만족도 수준은 각 도시의 현재 거주적합성(livability)을 반영하는 것으로 해석된다. 즉, 서울의 전반적인 주거환경수준은 상해와 같은 노력 없이도 전문직 외국인 거주를 가능하게 한다는 것을 의미한다. 이와 같은 거주적합성 수준은 각도시의 조사대상 외국인이 주거지 입지선택에 있어서 각기 다른 기준을 가지고 있다는 점에서도 확인할 수 있다. 거주환경과 안전은 상해에 거주하는 외국인들이 가장 중요하게 고려하는 사안으로, 이것은 이 도시의 거주적합성에 대한 그들의 인식을 반영한다. 본 연구가 계획된 외국인 커뮤니티가 외국자본과 전문직 고용을 유인하기 위한 전제조건이 되는가를 조사한 것은 아니지만, 연구결과는 외국인 전문인력을 유치하려는 동아시아의 글로벌도시전략에 대해 다음과 같은 정책적, 이론적 시사점들을 제시한다. 첫째, 외국인 전문인력의 거주를 유치하기 위하여 해당 도시에 계획된 외국인 거주지를 조성할 필요가 있는지 여부는 특정 도시의 주거의 질과 생활편의시설, 치안 및 대중교통에의 접근 성 등 그 도시의 조건과 상황에 따라 다르다. 즉, 전문직 외국인에 대한 주거정책은 거시적 글로벌 경제담론 보다는 장소특성에 대한 구체적 이해를 통해 접근되어야 한다. 둘째, 현재 세계화 시대에서 궁극적으로 추구하는 목표가 국적에 따른 격리가 아니고 다문화적 통합이라면, 외국인 주거지의 형태는 배타적으로 계획된 커뮤니티보다 모도시에 통합된 커뮤니티가 바람직하다는 점을 시사한다. 서울에서 보여주는 바와 같이, 문화적 그리고 언어적 장벽이 존재하기 때문에 물리적인 통합이 완전한 사회적 통합을 의미하는 것은 아니지만, 상해와 서울의 외국인 거주민들은 모두 현지 커뮤니티와의 사회적 교류 및 통합되기를 선호한다는 점은 주목되어야 한다. 마지막으로, 본 연구는 글로벌 경제활동의 주체인 전문직 외국인 남성의 입장이 아닌, 주거지에서 일상생활을 영위하는 배우자의 입장에서 외국인들과 현지인들 사이의 더욱 원활한 교류에 대한 가능성을 제시하는 동시에 일상생활에서의 거주적합도와 주거만족도 향상방안을 보여준다. 이론적 측면에서, 본 논문은 기존의 글로벌 경제중심의 초국가적 도시현상(transnational urbanism)에 대한 이해를 구체적 장소에 기반한(place-specific) 일상생활의 측면에서 확대하였다는 점에서 의의를 찾을 수 있다 ; Doctor

"I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy. I do not mean our political and civil liberties. They will endure. The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in… the loss of a unity of purpose for our Nation. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America"President Jimmy Carter, 1979What was supposed to be a summer of recovery and rebuilding, has instead become a summer of gloom, division and bigotry. The prospects of a double-dip recession still loom high for Americans in the light of a revised GDP report that puts annual growth rate for the second quarter at an anemic 1.6%, not 2.4% as predicted earlier.As with all economic downturns, fear and anxiety about an uncertain future translate into intolerance directed toward "the others". Two weeks ago it was the Arizona anti-immigration law and the anti-gay ban, this past week it was the so called "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy. The underlying angst is thus surfacing in the form of aggressive anti-immigrant, homophobic and Islamophobic sentiments. Most Americans (61%) are against this "Córdoba House" project, which is not exactly a plan for a mosque but for a Muslim Community Center, modeled after the Jewish Community Centers and the YMCA. Its grounds are located two blocks away from Ground Zero. Interestingly, the project was made public by the New York Times as a local lower Manhattan issue in 2009, and went unnoticed. It only exploded into the headlines recently, when public figures such as Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Newt Gingrich leapt at the opportunity of using it to further stoke the flames of division and xenophobia. While the Lower Manhattan community advisory board, several Jewish leaders and Mayor Bloomberg support the project, the Jewish Anti-Defamation League opposes it, arguing that its proximity to Ground Zero would cause unnecessary pain for the families of victims of 9-11. This argument has merit and should therefore be the focus of the debate, but it isn't. Instead, Gingrich compared the project to putting a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust Museum, and Palin called it a "stab in the heart of the families of 9-11".Daisy Kahn, the wife of the Imam in charge of the project, appeared recently on a Sunday talk show together with Manhattan's JCC director Rabbi Joy Levitt to defend the project. Kahn explained that historically in the United States, as members of different religions and creeds assimilate to the general culture, their practice, attitudes and activities become Americanized: that is the context within which the Córdoba Project should be understood: as a place where Muslims could meet, exercise, bring their children to Day Care and yes, pray. Indeed, contrary to the public image prevalent today, Muslims in the US are, according to Christiane Amanpour ," the most assimilated of all Muslims in the Western World." The United States also has a strong Interfaith Dialogue movement which supports the project.President Obama weighed into the controversy within the first 24 hours, saying Muslims were protected by the First Amendment's Freedom of Religion and had a right to build the center. After being chastised by the usual suspects (the same that insist Obama himself is a Muslim and have doubts about his citizenship), the President later qualified his first statement by adding he had "commented on theright but not on the wisdom" of the project. Clearly, that is what is at issue here: Muslims, like all other religious groups in America, do have the Constitutional right to congregate and worship as they please, but in the light of the deep wounds of 9-11, the symbolic aspect of the location tends to overshadow other valid considerations. However, as everything in today's political toxic environment, it instantly became more fodder for demagogues and added more virulence to the political discourse. By correctly pointing out the discrepancy, Obama was derided as dithering as and insincere.Opposition to the Córdoba House is not an isolated incident that can be explained by its proximity to 9-11, which gives the outrage some validation. There are similar projects that have been put on hold due to protests as far as Wisconsin and California, and in the last few days there was a mosque burnt down in Tennessee, and a stabbing of a Muslim cab driver in New York. Anti-Muslim sentiment is conspicuously strong throughout the country, strong enough to be compared to the Swiss controversy over construction of new minarets. Even if the Mosque issue blows over in a month like other arguments have in the past (think Dubai Ports World brouhaha in 2005, for example) each of these bitter controversies plants seeds of discord that are used by demagogical purposes, mainly to delegitimize the government. People's anxiety about the economy is fertile ground for all kinds of phobias to thrive, whether directed against the Latinos moving into white neighborhoods, gay marriage in their town halls, or mosques being built nearby. Or against the first Black President, whose middle name happens to be Hussein. Angst and pessimism are so widespread that not even what would otherwise be considered good news has the power to cheer Americans up.The official end of the war in Iraq came and went practically unnoticed by a population unsure whether America "won or lost" there. After 7 years of fighting an asymmetrical war that has cost, at a minimum, 5,000 American lives, 150,000 Iraqi lives and 700 billion dollars, the United States is withdrawing its combat troops, leaving behind 50,000 troops in support roles and hoping that the Iraqi forces will be able to defend the population from the sectarian violence that is certain to ensue. The parliamentary elections in March delivered no clear winners, and neither Shiite Prime Minister Al-Maliki nor his rival Sunni former Prime Minister Alawi have been able to form a government coalition. In addition, the power and resource distribution struggle between the central government and the regions is still unsettled, and Iran is likely to step into the power vacuum left by the Americans and meddle in its neighbor's politics for years to come. The counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan is not delivering any positive results either, and the American relationship with the Karzai government is at best uneasy. Besides, to paraphrase Frank Rich's recent op-ed titled "How Fox (TV) betrayed Petreaeus", how can you win Muslims hearts and minds in Kandahar if you are at war against Islam at home?No wonder Americans are not celebrating. Instead, they are turning inwards and becoming more isolationists, xenophobic and protectionist. And there is no leadership to pull us through these difficult times. The President is in his bunker, trying to change the topic to Katrina or to Middle East Peace talks (a relatively safe topic, if you think that in probably a hundred years it will still be the main headline of the New York Times). The Republican Party has been hijacked by the Tea Party Movement of Sarah Palin and talk-radio host and Fox news commentator Glenn Beck, who this past weekend held a "Restoring our Honor" march on Washington. From a podium at the Lincoln Memorial, on exactly the 47th the anniversary of Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech, Beck told a mostly white crowd of 87,000 that "Today, America is beginning to turn back to God." He spoke about "restoring the honor to America" and "reclaiming" the civil rights movement, which has been so "distorted". When asked whether he had chosen that date for his rally on Washington to coincide with King's anniversary, Beck responded it was not by intention but "by divine providence".This cynical usurpation of the Black leader's banner by Beck is just one example of how he will go to extremes to maintain his radio and TV ratings. In spite of his theatrical rants and stage hysterics, he is an able manipulator of white anger and racial anxiety. This sad picture of America besot by anxiety about deficits, unemployment and higher taxes, and divided by bigotry begs the question of who benefits. In an election year, the question may sound naïve, but it isn't. Republicans are increasingly worried about the "wacko wing" of the party that has run amok and will be impossible to rein in. Tea Party candidates are defeating incumbents in Republican primaries all over the country. The time is running out for serious Republicans to stand up, stop the nonsense and impose some restraint on its rank and file, while at the same time distance themselves from the most extreme Tea Party rants. They cannot reasonably devote themselves full-time to maligning the President and Democrats in Congress. They need to present a plan for economic growth, jobs and national reconciliation, to show they care about recovery and about governing. By opening the door to Tea Party candidates to win in November, they are in fact giving the President a chance at re-election. At the same time, Obama should move aggressively to the center of the political spectrum, moderate the ambition of his reforms and adopt an agenda of a balanced budget and an extended period for tax cuts. In this way he could win over the Independents, who will most certainly be appalled at the McCarthyist-like atmosphere on Capitol Hill after November, and will vote for him again in 2012, over a Palin, a Huckabee or a Gingrich. This coming year represents a fork in the road for the President: even if the economy recovers in a visible, sustainable way, Obama will have to choose between pragmatism and ideology, between becoming another Bill Clinton or another Jimmy Carter. Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Geography Director, ODU Model United Nations Program Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

At the peak of the summer heat last week Americans turned on their flat TVs to watch the Sotomayor hearings before the House Judiciary Committee. But their anticipation mixed in some cases with a certain sense of foreboding, soon evaporated, and they turned their sets off again with a big yawn. Although the Republican senators who interrogated Judge Sotomayor put in full display the traits that make them a species close to extinction, their questions were tame if compared with those addressed to Anita Hill in 1991, and Sotomayor answered with caution and self-restraint.Although in that sad historic episode Hill was not the nominee but a witness against the confirmation of Judge Clarence Thomas, the echoes of that summer 18 years ago were still unmistakable: a panel of powerful middle aged white men sitting in the most powerful political institution in the country, aggressively questioning the veracity of each word uttered by a highly educated minority woman. She was questioned on a wide range of valid issues, from her views on the Constitution to her judicial philosophy to her position on several politically charged Supreme Court decisions, but the Southern Republican senators kept coming back to her views on the Second Amendment (right to bear arms), affirmative action and the insinuations of reverse racism and judicial activism. Aware that Judge Sonia Sotomayor will soon become the first Hispanic in the highest court of the United States regardless, rather than go after the votes of the fastest growing majority in the country, they chose to score points with their own right-wing base. In so doing, some of them appeared outright Jurassic in their tone: Senator Coburn from Oklahoma, in a pathetic imitation of Desi Arnaz's Cuban accent in the classic series I Love Lucy, started his interrogation of Judge Sotomayor by telling her she would have "some 'splaining to do". The implications were that Sotomayor is a reverse racist, an overemotional Latina who cannot control her temper and who lets her cultural identity influence her rulings. The ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, Republican from Alabama, grilled Sotomayor on part of a speech she gave at Berkeley 17 years ago, where she said that, when making a judging, she would "hope that wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach abetter conclusion than a white male who has not lived that life", a concept that, Sessions insists, implies "reverse racism". There was quite little inquiry into Sotomayor's three thousand decisions on a wider variety of issues as a federal judge. Sotomayor stoically sat before the panel, answering their questions narrowly and sticking to three main answers: the role of a judge is to apply the laws established by the legislature, not to create new law, in absolute accordance with the Constitution, and precedent. In other words, the wise Latina, a Princeton lawyer, former prosecutor and currently a judge with 17 years of experience in the federal bench, ignored their worst innuendos and played along. It paid off: she will be confirmed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court judge on the floor of the Senate August 7th.The country as a whole could then move on to the intense debate taking place in Congress over health care reform. There is consensus that it is imperative to get it done soon: its expenses represent 1/6th of the national US economy, its out- of- control costs affect all Americans and threaten to bankrupt the national economy in the long term. Because of Bill Clinton's failure to get health care reform passed, Obama has from the beginning stressed the importance of speed in passing this bill, and gave Congress a lot of leeway in the details of the plan, and a deadline of early August, which apparently will not be met. Not only is the Democratic proposal unacceptable for most Republicans, who have attacked it with force, but now the Congressional Democrats are divide among themselves into three groups. The Blue Dog Democrats, mostly from the South, are fiscally conservative and do not believe the President can fund the plan without further increasing the deficit to breaking point levels. The progressives or liberals cannot accept anything less than universal coverage with a public plan to compete with the private insurance companies. In the middle, the moderates are willing to sacrifice those principles in order to get some kind of reform passed, because they fear failure more than anything else.The latter may also be the stance of the President since it is consistent with his style of leadership. His tendency to emphasize consensus and try to reconcile all groups many times results on watered down legislation, which is then claimed as a triumph for the White House. His emphasis on speeding the process and his willingness to accept the lower common denominator has made it impossible for him to get what he needs out of the primary players. With a 70% majority in the House and with 60 seats out of 100 in the Senate, the President will be hard put to explain failure in passing health care reform, since he won't be able to blame the Republicans. Speaker Pelosi, who is a strong leader and has managed to get party discipline in most cases so far, insists that she has the votes and promises to pass substantial reform, but as the deadline approaches, it appears increasingly likely that Congress will leave for its August break without a vote. In the meantime, public anxiety is on the rise: it is a complex topic, the options are sometimes hard to understand and the public is being misled by those opposed to reform.President Obama had an important opportunity to retool his message and clearly articulate why the country really needs health care reform now rather than later, last Wednesday, during his prime time press conference. He started in cue, but his message became completely obliterated when one of the journalists asked him an unrelated question about a bizarre incident involving a black Harvard professor and a white Massachusetts police sergeant. Seeing this opportunity as one of his famous "teachable moments", the President, who knows the professor personally, got ensnared in an unlikely local issue involving race and police profiling. It seem that returning from a trip to China, a Harvard professor and his driver were trying to unlock the door to his house in an affluent Cambridge neighborhood when a neighbor called the police and reported what looked to her to be an attempted break-in. When the policeman got there and questioned Professor Gates, a middle aged African American who walks with a cane, he angrily responded that this was his house, that he was a Harvard professor and that the policeman was racist and was using racial profiling in trying to stop him from entering his own house. The exchange continued for a while and ended up with Sergeant Crowley handcuffing and arresting Professor Gates, and taking him to the police station. He was released a few hours later. Obama's answer was that he did not know all the facts and that it appeared it was a misunderstanding but that the police had acted "stupidly". This was enough to ignite a major national debate that overshadowed more important issues at hand, for example, the health care discussions.While a highly paid tenured professor in the richest university in the world is an unlikely victim, and does not need the President of the United States to defend him, particularly in the city of Cambridge, which boasts a Black mayor, in the state of Massachusetts, which has a Black governor, the episode nevertheless was seized by Obama as an opportunity to have another conversation on race, of those that make Americans so uncomfortable. But the opposition did not lose a moment to portray the President as "against law enforcement", and Fox News misquoted him as saying the policeman was stupid (instead of "acted stupidly"). Obama then had to intervene again to stop the silliness, apologizing from his comment, explaining how there had been overreaction from both sides involved in the incident and inviting them both for a beer at the White House, which both the Sergeant and the Professor gladly accepted. So all ended well…just like the Sotomayor hearings. But the fact still remains that if you are Black or Hispanic in the United States, your chances of getting arrested or subdued by force by the police are much higher than if you are white Caucasian. And your chances of getting harassed by the Senate Judiciary Committee when nominated for the Supreme Court are apparently as high.Both the Supreme Court hearings and the arrest of the Harvard professor can be seen through multiple prisms: the race prism, the gender prism and the class prism. All involve unequal relations of power and their effects on the dispensing of justice and on the national psyche.Judge Sonia Sotomayor's rise from the Bronx projects to Princeton, Yale and the federal bench show that the American system works, in spite of the "ancien régime" Republican Senators from the formerly racist South. She had to overcome being poor, female and Hispanic, but was able to navigate the system and succeed, thanks to the civil rights movement of the 60s and the laws thereby derived. Similarly, Professor Henry Louis Gates, one of the best known Black literary scholars in the country, overcame poverty and a leg injury to attend Yale and the University of Cambridge's Clare College in England. He was the first African American to receive the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship and today he is a Harvard Professor and Director of W.E.B Du Bois Institute for African and African- American Research. Both are considered members of affluent intellectual elite, and have thus overcome race and class biases, but occasionally still become the victims of racism. This is deplorable enough when it comes from the less educated and working-class whites who resent their success and upper class status, but utterly shameful when exploited by the privileged Old Boys in the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose hegemony is threatened by the same laws and the same Constitution they purport to defend. Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Geography Director, ODU Model United Nations Program Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

The Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) was a usual species in Kazakhstan (Korelov, 1962). However now it is included in the Red Data Book of Kazakhstan and has the most threatened status. Saker Falcons are favorite birds of Arabian falconers and falcons were exported from Kazakhstan for a long time. But usually no more than several tens of birds were exported a year. The first legal groups of trappers were created in independent Kazakhstan republic after disintegration of the USSR in 1992, they received from the government permissions to catch sakers from the wild. Hundreds falcons had already been exported from Kazakhstan. Up to 1000 birds were exported from Kazakhstan every year at the middle of 1990-s (Sklyarenko, 1995). Legal groups caught birds mainly during autumn migrations in the areas of their concentrations which were being simultaneously and the main areas of their breeding. Those territories were the Zaysanskaya and Alakolskaya depressions, Syugatinskaya valley, the Western Balkhash Lake region and the Betpak-Dala desert. In spite of the fact that number sakers in that areas decreased every year and executive ministries were informed about it, quotas for catching increased year by year. Only Saudi Arabia had the permission for the catching of 25 falcons in 1995, but groups of trappers already from four countries with the permission on 165 sakers had caught falcons in Kazakhstan in 1999, and even more applications on catching of falcons had been submitted to the ministry which requested to the Institute of Zoology a substantiation on catching of 200 birds from the wild in 2000! Many illegal groups of trappers have appeared since 1992. Local criminal groups which organized catching of sakers and bought chicks harvested from nests from local people for a song had been already created till 1993. For instance, a female of saker caught a sack of flour in the Zaysanskaya depression in 1996-1997. But mass media with enviable persistence estimated a saker for the mythical sum of 50-70 thousands dollars. The agiotage around of trade in falcons mobilized local people to harvest falcons. Poachers have accumulated the significant experience last years and they know very much about saker biology and requirements of the falcon market. Only females are harvested from broods and males do not caught at nests. As a result of such selective approach balance of the sexual population structure has been disturbed, the portion of males is higher than females. A total of 400-450 pairs were estimated to breed in eastern regions earlier. This number decreased to 120-145 pairs for last 15 years. Only a nest from 8 monitored nests was active in the Betpak-Dala desert in 1999 (Levin, 2003). Number changes of saker populations in the southeast and the east of Kazakhstan are demonstrated in Fig.4. Only 22 (29,3 %) of 75 visited breeding territories were occupied in the all Eastern Kazakhstan. The principal cause of low breeding success of sakers in east regions is the continuation of poaching. The number of empty breeding territories increased in 4 times (comparing with previous year) during the breeding season in 2006. Another important reason of the saker number decreasing is falcon deaths from electrocution on overhead power lines with voltage 6-10 kV. Following S. V. Starikov's data (1996/1997) 68 sakers were killed in the Zaysan depression in 1990-93. Number of electrocuted birds is awful: 30 dead sakers were found during surveys of 95 km of power line on the northern side of the Zaysan Lake on 29-30 September 1993, 27 dead sakers per 400 km of power line in the southern side of the Zaysan Lake on 20-26 October 1993 (8.6 % of all killed raptors and 6.6 % of all killed birds). Another important reason of absence of breeding sakers in east regions is considered to be the depression of numbers of susliks (Spermophilus erythrogenys, S. undulatus), and great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) continuing more than 10 years. Now the number of susliks is stable or increases in many areas, but the number of sakers decreases persistently. According to the information from the Arabian countries demand for wild birds has sharply fallen last two years. The number of detentions of sakers on customs and police posts has decreased. But long-term monitoring of breeding territories of sakers in different regions of Kazakhstan shows the number ob breeding population slow and continuous decreasing. And the reason of that is the continuation with absence of any logics of catching of birds from the wild. The state program «Restoration of the Saker population in the southeast of Kazakhstan» has been carried out in 2007. 60 birds breed in the Sunkar facility center were released in the nature (Fig.8). Because that action has been widely advertised in press, there were the people wishing to catch these falcons in the area of release in September. The Game Service detained three times vehicles where pigeons with loops were found. The mentioned facts are evidences that persons busy in the trade in falcons in Kazakhstan are professionals. The ways of illegal export from Kazakhstan to the Gulf States exist. And blocking of such ways on the border is one of effective methods to struggle against the illegal trade in rare animals in our country and to stop the saker number falling. ; The Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) was a usual species in Kazakhstan (Korelov, 1962). However now it is included in the Red Data Book of Kazakhstan and has the most threatened status. Saker Falcons are favorite birds of Arabian falconers and falcons were exported from Kazakhstan for a long time. But usually no more than several tens of birds were exported a year. The first legal groups of trappers were created in independent Kazakhstan republic after disintegration of the USSR in 1992, they received from the government permissions to catch sakers from the wild. Hundreds falcons had already been exported from Kazakhstan. Up to 1000 birds were exported from Kazakhstan every year at the middle of 1990-s (Sklyarenko, 1995). Legal groups caught birds mainly during autumn migrations in the areas of their concentrations which were being simultaneously and the main areas of their breeding. Those territories were the Zaysanskaya and Alakolskaya depressions, Syugatinskaya valley, the Western Balkhash Lake region and the Betpak-Dala desert. In spite of the fact that number sakers in that areas decreased every year and executive ministries were informed about it, quotas for catching increased year by year. Only Saudi Arabia had the permission for the catching of 25 falcons in 1995, but groups of trappers already from four countries with the permission on 165 sakers had caught falcons in Kazakhstan in 1999, and even more applications on catching of falcons had been submitted to the ministry which requested to the Institute of Zoology a substantiation on catching of 200 birds from the wild in 2000! Many illegal groups of trappers have appeared since 1992. Local criminal groups which organized catching of sakers and bought chicks harvested from nests from local people for a song had been already created till 1993. For instance, a female of saker caught a sack of flour in the Zaysanskaya depression in 1996-1997. But mass media with enviable persistence estimated a saker for the mythical sum of 50-70 thousands dollars. The agiotage around of trade in falcons mobilized local people to harvest falcons. Poachers have accumulated the significant experience last years and they know very much about saker biology and requirements of the falcon market. Only females are harvested from broods and males do not caught at nests. As a result of such selective approach balance of the sexual population structure has been disturbed, the portion of males is higher than females. A total of 400-450 pairs were estimated to breed in eastern regions earlier. This number decreased to 120-145 pairs for last 15 years. Only a nest from 8 monitored nests was active in the Betpak-Dala desert in 1999 (Levin, 2003). Number changes of saker populations in the southeast and the east of Kazakhstan are demonstrated in Fig.4. Only 22 (29,3 %) of 75 visited breeding territories were occupied in the all Eastern Kazakhstan. The principal cause of low breeding success of sakers in east regions is the continuation of poaching. The number of empty breeding territories increased in 4 times (comparing with previous year) during the breeding season in 2006. Another important reason of the saker number decreasing is falcon deaths from electrocution on overhead power lines with voltage 6-10 kV. Following S. V. Starikov's data (1996/1997) 68 sakers were killed in the Zaysan depression in 1990-93. Number of electrocuted birds is awful: 30 dead sakers were found during surveys of 95 km of power line on the northern side of the Zaysan Lake on 29-30 September 1993, 27 dead sakers per 400 km of power line in the southern side of the Zaysan Lake on 20-26 October 1993 (8.6 % of all killed raptors and 6.6 % of all killed birds). Another important reason of absence of breeding sakers in east regions is considered to be the depression of numbers of susliks (Spermophilus erythrogenys, S. undulatus), and great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) continuing more than 10 years. Now the number of susliks is stable or increases in many areas, but the number of sakers decreases persistently. According to the information from the Arabian countries demand for wild birds has sharply fallen last two years. The number of detentions of sakers on customs and police posts has decreased. But long-term monitoring of breeding territories of sakers in different regions of Kazakhstan shows the number ob breeding population slow and continuous decreasing. And the reason of that is the continuation with absence of any logics of catching of birds from the wild. The state program «Restoration of the Saker population in the southeast of Kazakhstan» has been carried out in 2007. 60 birds breed in the Sunkar facility center were released in the nature (Fig.8). Because that action has been widely advertised in press, there were the people wishing to catch these falcons in the area of release in September. The Game Service detained three times vehicles where pigeons with loops were found. The mentioned facts are evidences that persons busy in the trade in falcons in Kazakhstan are professionals. The ways of illegal export from Kazakhstan to the Gulf States exist. And blocking of such ways on the border is one of effective methods to struggle against the illegal trade in rare animals in our country and to stop the saker number falling.

[ES] Es una gran satisfacción para mí, como Presidente del CSIC, elaborar la introducción de esta memoria de actividades llevadas a cabo a lo largo del año 2007, año en el que ya formaba parte del equipo directivo como Vicepresidente de Organización y Relaciones Institucionales. Como investigador y máximo responsable de esta institución, debo destacar en primer lugar el cambio que se produjo en la figura jurídica del CSIC, por su transformación en Agencia Estatal mediante el Real Decreto 1730/2007 de 21 de diciembre. El año terminó, por tanto, con un hito de máxima relevancia para nuestro organismo, que inicia un proceso de cambio hacia un funcionamiento más autónomo, flexible y regido por el compromiso en el cumplimiento de objetivos. Queda por delante desarrollar la Agencia y sus normas de funcionamiento, tarea que ya estamos abordando con la ilusión de conseguir un organismo atractivo en su funcionamiento y procedimientos, como es el caso de nuestros homólogos europeos. El final del año 2007 coincidió también con la revisión intermedia bienal del Plan de Actuación del CSIC (2006-2009) y, por tanto, del cumplimiento de los objetivos científico-técnicos alcanzados por sus institutos en sus Planes Estratégicos. Esta revisión mostró un balance muy positivo, consiguiendo, e incluso superando en algunos casos, los resultados previstos gracias al esfuerzo de todo el personal de la institución, por adaptarse a los cambios y superar los retos que se planteaban en el Plan de Actuación. A ello contribuyó indudablemente el incremento presupuestario recibido desde el Estado, que ha supuesto un aumento aproximado del 55% desde 2004 y que permitió afrontar las necesidades de personal, equipamiento científico e infraestructuras. La actividad científico-técnica desarrollada en el año 2007 se tradujo en un incremento de los ingresos de financiación externa, tanto a través de proyectos en concurrencia competitiva a los que acuden nuestros investigadores, como en contratos. Esto ha contribuido en el aumento significativo de la producción científica de calidad y en los resultados de orientación tecnológica transferibles al sector industrial, de los que da buena cuenta esta memoria. Pero el año 2007 no ha sido un año exclusivamente dedicado a la generación de resultados científico-tecnológicos, sino que una gran parte de la actividad se ha dedicado a su transferencia. Y esto significa no sólo al sector socio-económico, sino también a la sociedad en general a través de la divulgación promovida por el Área de Cultura Científica. Hay que destacar que el año 2007 fue declarado por el Gobierno "Año de la Ciencia", en conmemoración del centenario de la creación ; de la Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas, JAE, institución de la cual el Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas se considera sucesor, no sólo por el impulso que dio a la investigación y a la sociedad del conocimiento, sino porque muchos de los institutos que integran hoy en día el CSIC fueron creación de la propia JAE. El CSIC lideró las actividades llevadas a cabo en el Año de la Ciencia, que acercaron la investigación a la sociedad a través de los medios de comunicación y poniendo a nuestros científicos en contacto directo con la sociedad. Durante el año 2007 el CSIC puso en marcha grandes proyectos de divulgación científica como el de "Ciencia en la Ciudad" o el de "Ciencia en el Puerto", proyecto, este último, que se llevó a cabo con el buque de investigación oceanográfica Sarmiento de Gamboa. Esta gran instalación científica marina fue utilizada durante los meses de prueba en jornadas de puertas abiertas, mostrando a los ciudadanos de varios puertos españoles y portugueses esta nueva infraestructura y los nuevos proyectos de investigación que a través de ella se irán desarrollando. Asimismo, en 2007 se editó el libro "Tiempos de investigación, JAE-CSIC. Cien años de ciencia en España", que recoge, por primera vez, un recorrido por la historia de ambas entidades y la opinión sobre el CSIC de todos sus Presidentes. La trayectoria consolidada que posee el CSIC de cooperación con otros organismos nos permitió en el año 2007 abordar la creación de seis nuevos centros mixtos con Universidades y Gobiernos Autónomos, así como la creación de otros tres centros propios, lo que supuso la remodelación de cuatro de ellos. Ha sido también un año en el que se incrementó de forma considerable el número de contratos y convenios del CSIC con empresas y otras instituciones, ascendiendo a más de 1.300 con una financiación superior a los 63 millones de euros, que se sumaron a los más de 3.000 convenios que estaban en vigor. Es necesario resaltar que también siguió incrementándose el número de plazas para investigadores, becarios y contratos de doctores. No cabe duda de que nuestro organismo, cuya fortaleza es la multidisciplinariedad, ha seguido mostrándose en 2007 como el auténtico eje vertebrador de la actividad investigadora científico-técnica en España. Todo ello, gracias al espíritu competitivo y de mejora de todos los que lo componen, que han hecho y siguen haciendo posible la investigación científico-técnica de calidad. ; [EN] It gives me great satisfaction, as the President of the CSIC, to write this introduction to the report on the organisation's activities in 2007, a year during which I was already part of the management team as Vice President for Organisation and Institutional Relations. As a researcher, and as the organisation's chief executive, I would first like to highlight the change in the CSIC's legal status that took place with its transformation into a State Agency by Royal Decree 1730/2007 on 21 December 2007. The year therefore ended with a highly significant milestone for our organisation, launching a process of change that will lead to its being managed in a more independent and flexible way, guided by its making a commitment to –and meeting– objectives. Ahead of us lies the task of developing the Agency and defining its rules of operation, something which we are already addressing, with a view to fashioning an organisation whose procedures and form of operation will make it as attractive as its European counterparts. The end of 2007 also coincided with the biannual interim review of the CSIC Action Plan (2006-2009) and therefore, an assessment of the degree of fulfilment of the scientific and technical objectives its institutes set out in their strategic plans. The outcome of this review was highly positive, with the envisaged results being achieved, and in some cases surpassed, thanks to the effort of all the institution's staff to adapt to the changes and overcome the challenges the Action Plan presented. The increase in the budget received from national government, which has risen by 55% since 2004, and which made it possible to meet the organisation's needs in terms of staff, scientific equipment and infrastructure, was undoubtedly also a contributory factor. The scientific and technical activity undertaken in 2007 translated into an increase in income from external funding, in the form of both contracted research and projects funded on a competitive basis. This has contributed to the significant increase in the amount of high quality scientific output and technological results suitable for transfer to the industrial sector, about which there is much more in this report. However, 2007 was not characterised solely by the production of scientific and technological results, as a great deal of effort was also devoted to technology transfer. As well as involving the socio- economic sector, this has also meant reaching out to society in general through the scientific popularisation activities promoted by the Scientific Culture Area. It is also worth noting here that the Spanish government declared 2007 the "Year of Science", to commemorate the centenary of the creation of the Junta para Introducción / Introduction Rafael Rodrigo Presidente del CSIC President of the CSIC ; Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas, or JAE, the institution which the CSIC, as the Spanish National Research Council, considers its predecessor, not only on account of the stimulus it gave to research and the knowledge society, but also because many of the institutes that now form a part of the CSIC were created by the JAE. Spain's Science Year aimed to bring research closer to society, both through the media and by enabling direct contact between scientists and the public, and the CSIC naturally played a leading role in the events and activities. The CSIC ran several large popular science initiatives in 2007, such as "Science in the City", or "Science in Ports", the latter involving the Sarmiento de Gamboa oceanographic research vessel. While this major scientific facility was undergoing trials various open days were held in ports in Spain and Portugal, where the public were able to view this new piece of marine infrastructure and get a glimpse of some of the research projects that it will be used for. 2007 also saw the publication of a book describing the hundred years of history of the JAE-CSIC entitled "Tiempos de investigación, JAE-CSIC. Cien años de ciencia en España". As well as giving an overview of the history of the two organisations the book also summarised the opinions the CSIC's past presidents have had of the institution. The CSIC's solid track record of cooperation with other organisations enabled us to set up six new joint centres, run in collaboration with universities and regional governments, in 2007. The CSIC also set up another three centres of its own and remodelled four of them. It was also a year in which there was a considerable increase in the number of contracts and agreements between the CSIC and firms and other institutions. These reached a total of over 1,300 and brought in funding of 63 million euros, in addition to the more than 3,000 agreements already in force. At the same time, the number of places for researchers, research fellows and post-doctoral contracts also continued to increase. There is no doubt that our organisation, whose strength is its multidisciplinary, continued to demonstrate its having a key role in structuring scientific and technological research in Spain. This is all thanks to the competitive spirit and desire for continual improvement shown by all its members, whose past and present efforts have made the CSIC's high quality scientific and technical research possible. ; Peer reviewed

Considering the socio-political situation in Russia to be devoid of any alternatives has become a dominant view over the past 15 years and has turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy directed towards both the past and the present. Meanwhile, the history of these past 15 years was anything but alternativeless. The country traversed several obvious bifurcation points 1991-1993, 1996, and 1998-1999 when the road taken was not the only possible one. Neither was this road predetermined by history or by the operation of objective natural forces. The choices were made by those in power and thus they were subjective choices. Russian history (after the fall of the Soviet Union) reached the decisive bifurcation point in 1991-1993. The choice was then made in favor of developing capitalism "from above" through the conversion of power into property. The foregone option was to develop it "from below" through the creation of favorable conditions for smalland mediumscale private property, which could have developed alongside the state sector, gradually pushing it out of the most lucrative spheres of economic activity. This choice was reciprocated in the political sphere, where the existing administrative structures were used to attain the economic goals of market liberalization and state property privatization as fast as possible. The long road of the democratic transformation of power was rejected in the name of velocity and depth of the economic transformation. This longer road would have required constant readjusting and reconciling of interests through political compromises and would have led to a decidedly different fate for the Russian large-scale private property holdings. These holdings were created through the direct conversion of power into property under the aegis of the state or 117 № 4 (84) июль-август 2006 Вестник общественного мнения through deals with its individual representatives, and the method of their creation proved to be much more important for the future of these holdings than the speed of their creation or their size. By the middle of 2000s this method also made possible the transition of this property into the hands of those groups that privatized the Russian state. The plebiscitary election of Vladimir Putin to the presidency of Russian Federation has greatly reduced the number of available developmental pathways. An alternative pathway could have emerged from the actions of interest groups opposing the supreme power in its policy of systematically reestablishing vertical controls in all spheres and of eliminating any and all independent centers of political, economic, and social activity. However, the case of M. Khodorkovsky remains the only case of any kind of serious resistance to this policy in more than six years of Putin's stay in power. The real or illusory benefits of subordination proved to be much higher than the costs of resistance. By its very nature the deinstitutionalization of the political system that took place in the first half of the 2000s prevents any alternatives from emerging by depriving them of substance in advance. The state power creates structures that imitate opposition and civil society and imitates the fight against corruption and threat of fascism thus depriving the real opposition of any serious crystallization potential. Neither is this kind of power capable of generating any developmental alternatives from its own midst. In this sense Russia's current situation reproduces a very tragic predicament that has occurred multiple times throughout Russian history. The system cannot be reformed from inside it eventually forces itself into a dead-end by basing its relations with society on vertical structures of control and management. On the other hand, a fast and radical demolition of such a system also proves utterly unhelpful in overcoming its path-dependency. Over the course of the 20th century this kind of demolition has been attempted twice at its beginning and at its end and has both times resulted in the regeneration of the top-down type of relationship between state and society. The current power configuration is not balanced by a developmental alternative originating from outside the power system. An obvious and growing instability of the latter threatens to produce yet another collapse and to result in yet another turn of the old vicious circle. The more urgent is, therefore, the need to produce a developmental alternative outside of the power system in today's Russia. The institutes of political democracy must include the interests of the majority of the population in order to acquire a minimal degree of sustainability and to avoid being destroyed as they were in the 1990s. Democracy in Russia is not possible without the integration of social demands of those who are made redundant both as producers and as consumers in the model of economic development aligned almost exclusively with the needs of the global energy markets. Without the integration of these social strata and without due consideration given to their interests, which are often anti-liberal, any democratic structure will be rootless and any process of democratization reversible. On the other hand, the market cannot be fully functional and the property rights cannot be guaranteed without democracy. This is the only way towards the creation of modern society in Russia. ; Considering the socio-political situation in Russia to be devoid of any alternatives has become a dominant view over the past 15 years and has turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy directed towards both the past and the present. Meanwhile, the history of these past 15 years was anything but alternativeless. The country traversed several obvious bifurcation points 1991-1993, 1996, and 1998-1999 when the road taken was not the only possible one. Neither was this road predetermined by history or by the operation of objective natural forces. The choices were made by those in power and thus they were subjective choices. Russian history (after the fall of the Soviet Union) reached the decisive bifurcation point in 1991-1993. The choice was then made in favor of developing capitalism "from above" through the conversion of power into property. The foregone option was to develop it "from below" through the creation of favorable conditions for smalland mediumscale private property, which could have developed alongside the state sector, gradually pushing it out of the most lucrative spheres of economic activity. This choice was reciprocated in the political sphere, where the existing administrative structures were used to attain the economic goals of market liberalization and state property privatization as fast as possible. The long road of the democratic transformation of power was rejected in the name of velocity and depth of the economic transformation. This longer road would have required constant readjusting and reconciling of interests through political compromises and would have led to a decidedly different fate for the Russian large-scale private property holdings. These holdings were created through the direct conversion of power into property under the aegis of the state or 117 № 4 (84) июль-август 2006 Вестник общественного мнения through deals with its individual representatives, and the method of their creation proved to be much more important for the future of these holdings than the speed of their creation or their size. By the middle of 2000s this method also made possible the transition of this property into the hands of those groups that privatized the Russian state. The plebiscitary election of Vladimir Putin to the presidency of Russian Federation has greatly reduced the number of available developmental pathways. An alternative pathway could have emerged from the actions of interest groups opposing the supreme power in its policy of systematically reestablishing vertical controls in all spheres and of eliminating any and all independent centers of political, economic, and social activity. However, the case of M. Khodorkovsky remains the only case of any kind of serious resistance to this policy in more than six years of Putin's stay in power. The real or illusory benefits of subordination proved to be much higher than the costs of resistance. By its very nature the deinstitutionalization of the political system that took place in the first half of the 2000s prevents any alternatives from emerging by depriving them of substance in advance. The state power creates structures that imitate opposition and civil society and imitates the fight against corruption and threat of fascism thus depriving the real opposition of any serious crystallization potential. Neither is this kind of power capable of generating any developmental alternatives from its own midst. In this sense Russia's current situation reproduces a very tragic predicament that has occurred multiple times throughout Russian history. The system cannot be reformed from inside it eventually forces itself into a dead-end by basing its relations with society on vertical structures of control and management. On the other hand, a fast and radical demolition of such a system also proves utterly unhelpful in overcoming its path-dependency. Over the course of the 20th century this kind of demolition has been attempted twice at its beginning and at its end and has both times resulted in the regeneration of the top-down type of relationship between state and society. The current power configuration is not balanced by a developmental alternative originating from outside the power system. An obvious and growing instability of the latter threatens to produce yet another collapse and to result in yet another turn of the old vicious circle. The more urgent is, therefore, the need to produce a developmental alternative outside of the power system in today's Russia. The institutes of political democracy must include the interests of the majority of the population in order to acquire a minimal degree of sustainability and to avoid being destroyed as they were in the 1990s. Democracy in Russia is not possible without the integration of social demands of those who are made redundant both as producers and as consumers in the model of economic development aligned almost exclusively with the needs of the global energy markets. Without the integration of these social strata and without due consideration given to their interests, which are often anti-liberal, any democratic structure will be rootless and any process of democratization reversible. On the other hand, the market cannot be fully functional and the property rights cannot be guaranteed without democracy. This is the only way towards the creation of modern society in Russia.

El proceso de urbanización origina grandes transformaciones en el medio ambiente. El deterioro de la calidad del aire en las grandes ciudades es un problema mundial que se incrementa con el crecimiento de la población. Entre los contaminantes del aire urbano, el material particulado en suspensión es considerado uno de los más importantes, por sus posibles efectos sobre la salud de las personas. La mayor peligrosidad está relacionada con su capacidad de ingresar en los pulmones, alojándose allí y dañando los tejidos involucrados en el intercambio de gases. Otros efectos del material particulado en suspensión están relacionados con la reducción de la visibilidad, con el aumento de la dispersión y/o de la absorción de la radiación solar afectando la radiación de onda corta y con el aumento del número de núcleos de condensación en la atmósfera. También, existen evidencias de los daños originados por el depósito de material particulado sobre edificios y monumentos. En este trabajo se estudian algunas características de la concentración de fondo de material particulado en suspensión total y PM10 en la atmósfera de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Además, se obtuvieron estimaciones del depósito de material particulado en la ciudad y se analizan sus distribuciones espacial y temporal. Fundamentalmente, se desarrolló y utilizó el modelo de dispersión-depósito DAUMOD-D, para estimar la concentración en aire y el depósito de material particulado en áreas urbanas y se lo aplicó a las emisiones de material particulado en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Este modelo incluye una parametrización de los procesos de depósito seco y húmedo de material particulado en un área urbana. Se describe la metodología utilizada para evaluar la "velocidad de depósito" en función de la distribución del tamaño de las partículas, de las condiciones atmosféricas y de la rugosidad de la superficie. Asimismo, se presenta la parametrización del "coeficiente de lavado" de partículas por la precipitación, en función de la distribución del tamaño de las partículas, de la eficiencia de colisión de las gotas de lluvia y de la intensidad de la precipitación. Para la aplicación del modelo desarrollado a la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, se presentan los resultados de un inventario de emisiones de material particulado en la ciudad. Los valores de las concentraciones de fondo de material particulado y del flujo de partículas sedimentables estimados por el modelo desarrollado han sido comparados con las observaciones realizadas por el Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires en diferentes zonas de la ciudad. Los resultados del modelo sobre-estimaron levemente el flujo de partículas sedimentables: el error cuadrático medio normalizado fue 37%, el error fraccional –9.1% y la varianza fraccional 1.8%. El 72% de las estimaciones resultó dentro de un factor 2 de las observaciones. Por otra parte, los valores estimados de la concentración de fondo de material particulado en suspensión resultaron algo inferiores a los observados: el error cuadrático medio normalizado fue 20.0%, el error fraccional 21.5%, la varianza fraccional 7.7% y el 87% de las estimaciones resultaron dentro de un factor 2 de las observaciones. De esta forma, los resultados obtenidos por el modelo DAUMOD-D para la ciudad de Buenos Aires pueden considerarse satisfactorios. Se estudió la variación mensual de la distribución espacial del depósito de material particulado en la ciudad, encontrándose que pueden existir zonas donde el depósito mensual de material particulado supere 1 mg/(cm2.30d) (límite establecido por la Ley 1356, de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires). Se presentan distribuciones horizontales de la concentración de fondo de material particulado en suspensión total en la ciudad para diferentes tiempos de promedio. Las zonas de la ciudad con los mayores valores de concentraciones horarias varían con las condiciones atmosféricas y la hora del día. Por otra parte, las máximas concentraciones mensuales de material particulado en suspensión pueden superar los 0.15mg/m3, principalmente en los meses invernales. Las zonas de la ciudad que presentan los mayores valores de concentración de material particulado en suspensión incluyen los barrios de Constitución-Retiro, Palermo, y alrededor de la Autopista 25 de Mayo y la Avenida Rivadavia. Asimismo, se estimaron las concentraciones de fondo , diaria y anual, de material particulado PM10 en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. La concentración media anual de PM10 presentó valores superiores a 0.05 mg/m3 (límite establecido por la Ley 1356, Ciudad de Buenos Aires) en el microcentro y en los barrios de Constitución y Retiro. Las concentraciones medias diarias de PM10 superaron los 0.15 mg/m3 (límite establecido por la Ley 1356, Ciudad de Buenos Aires) en Constitución, Retiro y en los alrededores del Aeroparque y la Autopista 25 de Mayo. Estas situaciones pondrían en riesgo al 51.6 % de la población total de la ciudad al menos 1 vez/año. Además, se estudió la ocurrencia consecutiva de concentraciones diarias altas, obteniéndose 3 rachas de 3 días de duración, que pondrían en riesgo al 0.6 % de la población menor que 14 años y al 0.7 % de la población mayor que 65 años. Se evaluó el aporte relativo de las diferentes fuentes de emisión a la contaminación por material particulado en diferentes zonas de la ciudad. Los automotores contribuyen con más del 60% de la concentración estimada y en segundo lugar se encuentra el aporte del transporte automotor de pasajeros (con alrededor del 20%) a la concentración estimada. ; The urbanization process causes large environmental changes. The deterioration of the air quality in big cities is a world problem, aggravated by demographic growth. Among urban air pollutants, suspended particulate matter is considered to be one of the most important because of its effect on human health. The greatest risk is related to its capacity of entering the lungs, depositing there and injuring the tissues involved in gas exchange. Other effects of these particles are related to decreased visibility, greater scattering and/or absorption of solar radiation, affecting short wave radiation and increasing the number of atmospheric condensation nuclei. There is also evidence about the damage caused by particle deposition on buildings and monuments. This study reports some characteristics of the background concentration of total and PM10 suspended particulate matter in the atmosphere of Buenos Aires. Particulate matter deposition in the city was estimated and an analysis was made of its spacial and temporal variations. Basically, the DAUMOD-D dispersion-deposition model was developed and used to determine particulate matter air concentration and deposition in urban areas and it was applied to particulate matter emissions in Buenos Aires. This model includes a parameterization of dry and wet deposition of particles in an urban area. The methodology used to assess the "deposition velocity" in function of particles size distribution, atmospheric conditions and surface roughness is described. The parameterization of the "scavenging coefficient" for particles, that describes the rate of removal of particles by rain, includes particle size distribution, raindrop collision efficiency and rainfall intensity. The results of an emission inventory for particulate matter in Buenos Aires is presented for the application of the model. The particulate matter background concentration values and particle deposition flux, estimated using the developed model have been compared with observations obtained by the City Government of Buenos Aires at different sites. The results of the model slightly over-estimated the deposition flux the normalized mean square error was 37%, fractional error –9.1% and fractional variance 1.8%. A 72% of the estimations were within a factor of 2 the observed values. On the other hand, the estimated background concentration values of suspended particles were found to be slightly lower than those observed: the normalized mean square error was 20%, the fractional error 21.5%, fractional variance 7.7% and a 87% of the estimates were within a factor of 2 the observations. In this way, the results obtained with the DAUMOD-D model for Buenos Aires may be considered satisfactory. The monthly spatial variation of particulate matter deposition is studied and it is found that there may be zones where the monthly particle deposition flux is greater than 1 mg/(cm2.30d) (air quality standard value set by Buenos Aires City Law 1356). Horizontal distributions of total suspended particles background concentrations for different averaging time are presented. The areas in the city with the highest hourly concentration vary according to atmospheric conditions and the time of day. On the other hand, maximum monthly-suspended particulate matter concentrations may exceed 0.15 mg/m3, particularly during winter months. The areas of the city with the highest suspended particulate matter concentrations include Constitución-Retiro, Palermo and along the 25 de Mayo Highway and Rivadavia Avenue. Daily and annual PM10 particulate matter background concentrations in Buenos Aires were also estimated. The mean annual concentration of PM10 exceeded 0.05 mg/m3 (air quality standard value set by Buenos Aires Law 1356) in the area of downtown, Constitución and Retiro. Daily mean concentrations of PM10 exceeded 0.15 mg/m3 (air quality standard value set by Buenos Aires City Law 1356) in Constitución, Retiro, in the surrounding of the Domestic Airport and the 25 de Mayo Highway. These risky situations could expose 51.6% of total population in the city once a year. The persistence of risky situations of daily mean concentrations was studied. Results showed that a persistence of 3 days might occur. This condition could expose 0.6% of children up to 14 years old and 0.7% of elderly people greater than 65 years old during three times a year. It was also estimated the relative contribution of the different emission sources to total suspended particles concentration in different locations of the city. Results show the contribution of vehicles is greater than 60 % and around 20 % of the concentration value can be allocated to public buses. ; Fil:Martin, Paula Beatriz. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.

ÖZETYirmi birinci yüzyılın başlarında dünyamız sosyal, siyasal ve ekonomik bakımdan çok hızlı gelişmelere sahne olmakta, siyasi yönden de ülkeler arasında yeni dengeler oluşmaktadır. Türkiye ise bulunduğu jeopolitik konumu ve jeostratejik üstünlükleri ile tüm dünyanın dikkatlerini üzerine çekmektedir.Dünyada hızlı nüfus artışı ve yaşanan tabi afetler sebebiyle tarımsal üretim her geçen gün daha da önem kazanmaktadır. Açlık ve fakirliğin yaşandığı ülkeler gıda maddelerinde dışa bağımlı hale gelmektedir.Türkiye, geniş yüzölçümü ve coğrafi kaynakları ile gıda üretiminde dünyada kendi kendine yetebilen nadir ülkelerden biridir. Ancak bu potansiyeline rağmen ülkemizin yeraltı ve yerüstü kaynaklarından istenilen ölçüde yararlanılabildiğini söylemek ise mümkün değildir. Gelecekteki tarımsal açığı giderebilmek ve gıda ürünü ihraç edebilmek için başlatılan GAP projesi ise Türkiye'nin geleceğinde önemli bir rol oynayabilecektir.Özellikle Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi'nde Fırat ve Dicle su kaynakları üzerinde 22 baraj ve yüzlerce sulama tesisini esas alan GAP projesinin tamamlanması Türkiye için büyük önem taşımaktadır. Ortadoğu'nun gelecekteki tarımsal üretim ihtiyacını karşılamada büyük önem taşıyan bu proje ile Türkiye'nin bölgedeki gücünün ve öneminin daha da artacağı söylenebilir.GAP projesinin temellerinin atıldığı 1970'li yıllardan bu yana ülkemizde sürekli olarak tarımsal teknoloji ve sulama eksikliği vurgulanmakta ancak, bu konuda yürütülen bilimsel ve teknik çalışmalar yetersiz kalmaktadır.Son dönemde Türkiye ile her konuda yakın diyalog ve işbirliği içinde bulunan İsrail ise gerek ülke içinde gerekse de başka ülkelerde yaptığı tarımsal araştırmalar ile dünyanın ilgisini çekmektedir. Çöllerle çevrili bir bölgede yer alan İsrail, sulama ve tohum ıslah çalışmalarında önemli adımlar atmıştır. Farklı tarımsal ürünlerde verimli tohumlar İsrail'de üretilmekte ve buradan da pek çok ülkeye ihraç edilmektedir.Her yıl yeni teknik ve teknolojilere büyük bütçeler ayıran İsrail Hükümeti, GAP bölgesine de büyük ilgi göstermektedir. Ülkemize ziyaretlerde bulunan İsrailli yetkililer, ikili görüşmelerde İsrail ve Türkiye ekonomilerinin tarımsal üretim ve teknoloji yönünden birbirlerini tamamlayan yönlerine de özellikle dikkat çekmektedirler.İsrail ile Türkiye arasında yürürlükte olan Serbest Ticaret Anlaşması ve diğer Ekonomik ve Teknik İşbirliği Anlaşmaları ise iki ülke ilişkilerine büyük ivme kazandırmaktadır.Bu çalışmamızda amacımız, İsrail ile tarım alanında yapılabilecek ortak teknolojik ve bilimsel altyapı projelerini ortaya çıkarmaktır. Bu çerçevede; iki ülke ilişkilerinin Türkiye-İsrail Tarımsal İşbirliği Anlaşması gereğince, GAP bölgesindeki tarımsal üretime nasıl katkıda bulunabileceği üç ana başlıkta değerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır.Çalışmamızın birinci bölümünde; Türkiye'deki tarımın genel yapısı ve Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi'ni incelemeye çalıştık. Bu bölümde GAP projesinin Türkiye'nin en büyük kalkınma projesi olduğu vurgulanırken, bölgenin tarımsal potansiyeli üzerinde özellikle durulmuştur.Çalışmamızın ikinci bölümünde ise, İsrail'deki tarımın genel yapısı ve tarım projeleri üzerinde durulmuş, özellikle İsrail tarım endüstrisinin yapısı ve çalışmaları incelenmiştir. Bununla beraber İsrail'de elde edilen tarımsal verimin tarım teknolojisi ile birleştirilerek nasıl diğer ülkelere pazarlanabildiği belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır.Çalışmamızın üçüncü ve son bölümde ise, Türkiye-İsrail tarımsal işbirliği potansiyeli üzerine bir değerlendirme yapılmıştır. Bu değerlendirmede Türkiye ile İsrail'in ekonomik ilişkileri, Serbest Ticaret Anlaşması ve bunların sonucunda tarım ürünlerinin taviz pozisyon listeleri üzerinde de bilgiler verilmiştir.Ayrıca çalışmamızla ilgili olarak Türkiye-İsrail tarımsal işbirliği potansiyelinin GAP bölgesinde nasıl üretime geçirilebileceği ve halen uygulanabilirlik durumları değerlendirilmiştir.Türkiye-İsrail Tarımsal İşbirliği Anlaşmasının GAP Bölgesi'ndeki çeşitli uygulanmalarda başarılı olabilmesi için şu önerilerde bulunabiliriz;* Yaklaşık olarak toplam yatırım tutarı 32 milyar dolar olarak dile getirilen GAP projesi henüz tamamlanmamasına rağmen enerji üretimi ve sosyal içeriği ile gerçekten önemli faydalar sağlamaktadır. Ancak mevcut ürün deseni değiştirilmediği ve modern teknolojiler kullanılmadığı takdirde tarım alanında istenen verimi elde etmek ne yazık ki kolay gözükmemektedir.* GAP master planında öngörülen temel kalkınma hedefleri bölgenin temelde tarıma dayalı ihracat üssü haline getirilmesine dayanmaktadır. GAP Projesi'nin bundan sonraki aşamaları da ürün ve pazar çeşitliliği ile birlikte tarıma dayalı ihracat hedefini dikkate alacak şekilde yürütülmelidir. GAP Bölgesi ise tarıma dayalı gıda sanayinin nüvesini teşkil etmelidir.* Başta sulama alanında olmak üzere projeler kapsamında götürülen hizmetlerin etkin bir şekilde kullanımını sağlamak için GAP Bölgesi'ndeki çiftçilerin eğitimine büyük önem verilmelidir.* Yaş meyve ve sebze üretiminde bölgedeki mevcut üretimin çeşitlendirilmesiyle bu alanda yüksek bir üretim düzeyine ulaşılacaktır. Bu alanda uygun çeşitlerin seçimi ve doğru üretim tekniklerinin kullanımı yanında ambalajlama, depolama ve pazarlama tekniklerinin geliştirilmesi büyük önem taşımaktadır.* Bu çerçevede İsrail ile sulama ve tohum üretimin yanı sıra seracılık, hayvancılık ve tarımsal mekanizasyon gibi konularda da işbirliği çalışmalarına başlanılabilir.Günümüzde teknoloji üretemeyen, transfer edilen teknolojileri de özümseyemeyen toplumların geleceğe umutla bakamayacakları bir gerçektir. Türkiye'de tarım endüstrisi alanında know-how transferine başvurmaz ise gelecekte güçlü bir tarım ülkesi olma hayalini hayata geçiremez.Bu açıdan İsrail ile tarımda mevcut işbirliği potansiyeli çok yönlü ele alınmalı ve milli menfaatler çerçevesinde kamu ve özel sektörün işbirliği teşvik edilmelidir. Tarım alanında elde edilen her türlü teknik ve teknolojik gelişme yakından izlenmeli ve yeni uygulamaların Türk tarımının istifadesine sunulması sağlanmalıdır.ABSTRACT The world is in a situation of rapid developments from social, political and economic aspects at the beggining of 21th century. Also some new balances have begin to arise from the political view. Meanwhile, Turkey draws attention of whole world due to its geopolitics and geostrategic position. Because of rapid increase in the world population and natural disasters, agricultural production gains considerable importance day by day in the world. Those countries which have experienced poverty and starvation, have to be dependent on other countries to meet their foodstuffs. Turkey is one of the rare self sufficient countries which can cover its own needs, with its large territory, land and rich geographical resources and the amount of food production. Despite of its tantamount capacities, it is impossible to say that Turkey is making use of its resources efficiently. The GAP project, carried out to eradicate agricultural shortage and export foodstuffs, will play a very important role in the future of Turkey. Completion of the South Eastern Anatolian Project with the installation of 22 dams and hundreds of irrigation systems on Firat and Dicle especially in the South Eastern Anatolia Region has a great importance for Turkey. It can say that through these projects, the power and importance of Turkey will increase even more in the region. Although, the deficiencies of agricultural technology and irrigation system have been frequently emphasized in our country since the laying down of the foundation of the project in 1970s, the scientific and technical studies, conducted on the issue have continued to be insufficient. On the other hand Israel, that developed a close relation with Turkey recently, draws the attention of the world with its agricultural researches in the country and abroad. Though Israel is surrendered by the deserts, it has succeeded to take important steps regarding to irrigation and seed improvement studies. The high productive seeds have been produced in Israel and exported to many countries. The Israeli government, preparing a considerable budget for the new techniques and technologies, also shows great interest to the GAP project. Israeli officials who have been visiting our country frequently, state in the bilateral negotiations that Turkey and Israel complete one another from the point of agricultural production and technology. Free Trade Agreement and other economic and technical cooperation agreements between the two countries have given impetus to the bilateral relations. Our main goal in this study is to reveal common technological and scientific infrastructure projects which could be conducted with the partnership of Israel and Turkey, relating to agriculture. The affects of the relations between two countries on agricultural production in GAP region, under the framework of Turkey-Israel Agricultural Cooperation Agreement, will be evaluated under three main chapters. At the first part of our study, we have tried to investigate the general structure of agriculture in Turkey and the Southeastern Anatolia Project. As we emphasized on the GAP project as the largest development project of Turkey we will also stress on agricultural potential of Turkey. In the second part of our study, we evaluated the general structure of agriculture in Israel and agricultural projects in this country. Furthermore, we try to determine how the agricultural efficiency in Israel is combined with the agricultural technology and marketing techniques to foreign countries. In the third and last part, we make some evaluations on the agricultural cooperation potential between Turkey and Israel. In the framework of this evaluation some information has been given about the economic relations between the two countries, Free Trade Agreement, and as a result of these agreements, about the privileged position lists of agricultural products. Relating to our studies, we also have evaluated how the Turkey-Israel agricultural cooperation potential in the GAP region can be tapped and mentioned the feasibility situations. We can suggest the followings so as to be successful in the several applications of Turkey-Israel Agricultural Cooperation Agreement in the GAP region. * Although the GAP project with $ 32 billion investment cost has not been completed yet, it is started to provide effective benefits with its social context and energy production. However, unless the available product design will be changed and modern technologies will be applied, it is not easy to get expected and planned output. * Basic development goals which have been envisaged in the GAP master plan, are based on the principles to make the region an exportation base. Other stages of the GAP project should be conducted by taking the diversifications of products and markets together with the exportation goal based on agriculture into consideration. The GAP region also forms the nucleus of food industry based on agriculture. * The training of the farmers in the GAP region, especially on the irrigation and other services provided in the framework of the GAP project should be given a special importance to carry out the project effectively. * Through the production variety of fresh fruit and vegetable in the region, a high production level will be able to be reached. Apart from selecting proper and suitable varieties and usage of the correct techniques of production, the techniques of packaging, storing, and marketing are also very important. * In this framework, we can cooperate with Israel on the fields of greenhouse, stock raising and mechanization of agriculture, besides irrigation and seed production. Today, it is a reality that societies, not applying technology, cannot look to the future with hope. If not applied to 'know-how' transfer in the agricultural field, Turkey cannot realize his ideal of being a country with a strong agricultural sector in the future.From this perspective, the agricultural cooperation potential with Israel should be evaluated multidimensional, an so the public and private sectors should be encouraged in the framework of national interests. Any developments in the agricultural field should be followed and new applications should be provided for the benefit and exploitation of Turkish agriculture.

Aviation is a pastime enjoyed by many amateur pilots. Of the 21 000 aircraft registered in the UK [1], 96% are engaged in general aviation activities (non-commercial flying). The UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) classifies microlights, gliders and autogyros as recreational sports aircraft. Of the 21 000 UK-registered general aviation aircraft, only 306 are autogyros, compared to over 4300 microlights and almost 2600 gliders. Despite this fact, the autogyro has been seen to exhibit a fatal accident rate up to 100 times higher than those of the microlight or glider. In response to the identification of this high accident rate amongst autogyro type vehicles, the CAA commissioned a programme of research intended to understand the cause. This research, undertaken in the UK by the University of Glasgow, consisted of analytical, wind tunnel and flight test activities. These studies concluded that the autogyro displayed "conventional lateral and directional dynamic stability characteristics", and that both the static and dynamic stability (in particular, a lightly damped phugoid mode) was highly sensitive to the vertical position of the centre of gravity (c.g.) relative to the propeller thrust line. The lack of provision within the autogyro community to collect meaningful data in relation to the airworthiness requirements was also highlighted. Outside of the work performed as part of the research programme that generated this report, there is still considered to be "little indication that rigorous scientific or engineering investigation of airworthiness has occurred". Therefore, there remains significant scope for further research into just what makes autogyros so unsafe to fly and how to improve their airworthiness. Prior research into the autogyro and its aerodynamic characteristics can be broadly divided into two phases, the first being from its inception in 1923 to the beginning of World War II and the period between 1996 and the present day, when a resurgence of interest in the autogyro began to occur. Much of the early works concentrate on characterising the autogyro's aerodynamic characteristics, relying heavily upon wind tunnel testing, flight testing and analytical investigation to establish an understanding of the fundamental flight dynamics of the autogyro. With the first flight of the first functional helicopter, the outbreak of World War II and the death of the inventor of the autogyro, research interest in this aircraft type was critically diminished. Only three papers on the subject of autogyros were published between 1939 and 1996. The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) review of the airworthiness of the grounded Air Command autogyro, conducted after the occurrence of 5 fatal accidents between 1989 and 1991, recommended the commissioning of a programme of research into both the airworthiness and aerodynamic characteristics of light autogyros. As a result of this recommendation, the autogyro experienced a resurgence in research interest, culminating in the publication of a CAA Paper which presented 4 recommendations intended to improve the airworthiness of the autogyro: 1. It is recommended that the vertical location of the centre of gravity (c.g.) should lie within a ± 2 inch envelope of the propeller thrust line. 2. Horizontal tailplanes are largely ineffective in improving the long term pitch dynamic stability (phugoid mode). 3. Extreme manoeuvring can lead to excessive rotor teeter angles during certain phases of flight, potentially resulting in the rotor blades striking the prop or empennage. 4. The chordwise centre of gravity of the rotor blades should always lie at or ahead of the 25% chord position to prevent rotor blade instability. One of the primary aims of this Thesis was to assess the validity and applicability of these recommendations; in order to do so, a simulation model of an autogyro was created. The model was based on the G-UNIV research autogyro owned by Glasgow University and validated against flight test data in order to ensure the required level of fidelity was achieved. Upon re-assessing the recommendations, in some cases, different conclusions were drawn. The first recommendation, while accepted as a sensible design aim, was found to be overly restrictive. BCAR Section T, the airworthiness specification for autogyros, specifies requirements on the period and time to half amplitude of any longitudinal oscillations present in the aircraft. Limiting the vertical position of the centre of gravity to within ±2 inches of the propeller thrustline resulted in forcing a design which is compliant with the requirements of BCAR Section T outside the specified range, to become non-compliant when the centre of gravity lies within the range. Recommendation 2 suggests that the removal of the tailplane of the aircraft has little impact on the longitudinal trim control positions and the characteristics of the phugoid mode. It was found that the results from the simulation model disagreed with this conclusion; the removal of the tailplane changed the characteristics of the phugoid model and the trimmed control positions significantly. The third recommendation highlighted the potential for a rotor blade to strike the propeller or the empennage under extreme manoeuvring. The simulation environment provided a safe environment in which to test this recommendation; it was found under the loading of an extreme manoeuvre it was possible for the main rotor to strike the tail, supporting the conclusion drawn in CAA Report 2009/02. It was not possible to assess the fourth and final recommendation, relating the positioning of the chord-wise position of the blade centre of gravity, due to the limitations of the simulation model developed. Another focus of the recent work surrounding the autogyro has been on quantifying and assessing the handling qualities of such vehicles. This presents many challenges, including the fact that no autogyro-specific handling qualities specifications currently exist. One of the main themes of this Thesis was to progress towards the creation of such a specification, either through development of a new methodology or development of existing specifications, such as ADS-33E-PRF. The first steps in this field have been taken by Glasgow University using ADS-33; the primary specification used in the assessment of military rotorcraft. Assessment of the autogyro was previously carried out in a real-world flight trial using existing Mission Task Elements (MTEs) taken from ADS-33, the Slalom and the Acceleration-Deceleration. The results from this trial were then used to derive proposed Level 1, 2 and 3 boundaries for quickness and pilot attack. This Thesis replicated this trial using real-time piloted simulation, and the method described in the work carried out by Glasgow University was also utilised to derive a set of predicted handling qualities Levels for both quickness and pilot attack. It was found that the predicted Level boundaries generated from the simulation trial did not agree well with those predicted in the original flight trial. There were several reasons for this; in the original flight trial the pilot used a non-standard technique to fly the Slalom manoeuvre, using sideslip to complete the test course. Additionally, both the original flight trial and the simulated flight trial used data from several different course geometries. This resulted in the ordering of the Level boundaries being reversed for the Levels predicted by the simulated flight trial, as those test points carried out on the more aggressive course geometries received lower handling qualities ratings, whilst using the most aggressive control inputs, compared to those on easier courses which used lower magnitude and aggression inputs, and thus a lower quickness, while receiving better handling qualities. Recommendations were made to address these issues in future iterations of this work. This Thesis also sought to establish whether the MTEs specified in ADS-33 highlighted the deficiencies within the autogyro in the same manner as they do in the helicopter, as well as identifying the fundamental differences between the autogyro and helicopter. For the most part, the MTEs chosen did highlight the deficiencies in the same manner for both autogyro and helicopter, with the exception of the Acceleration-Deceleration. When assessing the helicopter, the Acceleration-Deceleration is intended to highlight the presence of any undesirable roll due to pitch cross couplings present in the aircraft. As the autogyro uses throttle setting to accelerate, and not pitch attitude, the Acceleration-Deceleration cannot be used to assess the impact of this cross coupling in the autogyro. The Acceleration-Deceleration also revealed the presence of a roll due to throttle coupling in the autogyro which had not previously been reported. Alongside the repetition of this original flight trial, new MTEs were analysed. The Heave Hop and the Roll Step are MTEs originally intended to assess tilt rotor type aircraft; however, they have shown some utility in assessing the autogyro. The Heave Hop in particular highlighted another of the fundamental differences between the autogyro and the helicopter. The Heave Hop is intended to test the ability of the aircraft to sustain a positive load factor, before transitioning to a negative load factor. Much of the effect of this changing load factor is mitigated for the helicopter by the presence of a rotor speed governor, which maintains the rotor speed at a constant value for irrespective of the rotor loading. However, the autogyro rotor is unpowered, meaning that changes in the rotor loading also change the rotor speed. This results in potentially problematic changes in the autogyro handling qualities; reducing or increasing the available control power or quickness available to the pilot. The completion of the work described herein has raised many possible avenues for further work; although it has been shown that ADS-33 style predicted handling qualities represent a good baseline for development of autogyro specific handling qualities, there remains scope for redefinition of the Level 1/2 and Level 2/3 boundaries for the predicted handling qualities parameters, such as quickness and control power, as well as for the re-definition of MTEs to make them autogyro-specific. In order to draw absolute conclusions, these manoeuvres must also be reassessed using different autogyro types and configurations – often the work presented herein is only the second time such an assessment has taken place. The development of the easily reconfigurable autogyro model developed as part of this Thesis presents an ideal tool to achieve this goal. In summary, through development of existing work and introduction of new ideas, some progress has been made in the progression towards an autogyro-specific handling qualities specification. Whilst there is still a long way to go in thoroughly domesticating the autogyro, this Thesis represents a step in the right direction.