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Madagascar has become a model region for testing hypotheses of species diversification and biogeography, and many studies have focused on its diverse and highly endemic herpetofauna. Here we combine species distribution models of a near-complete set of species of reptiles and amphibians known from the island with body size data and a tabulation of herpetofaunal communities from field surveys, compiled up to 2008. Though taxonomic revisions and novel distributional records arose since compilation, we are confident that the data are appropriate for inferring and comparing biogeographic patterns among these groups of organisms. We observed species richness of both amphibians and reptiles was highest in the humid rainforest biome of eastern Madagascar, but reptiles also show areas of high richness in the dry and subarid western biomes. In several amphibian subclades, especially within the Mantellidae, species richness peaks in the central eastern geographic regions while in reptiles different subclades differ distinctly in their richness centers. A high proportion of clades and subclades of both amphibians and reptiles have a peak of local endemism in the topographically and bioclimatically diverse northern geographic regions. This northern area is roughly delimited by a diagonal spanning from 15.5°S on the east coast to ca. 15.0°S on the west coast. Amphibian diversity is highest at altitudes between 800–1200 m above sea-level whereas reptiles have their highest richness at low elevations, probably reflecting the comparatively large number of species specialized to the extended low-elevation areas in the dry and subarid biomes. We found that the range sizes of both amphibians and reptiles strongly correlated with body size, and differences between the two groups are explained by the larger body sizes of reptiles. However, snakes have larger range sizes than lizards which cannot be readily explained by their larger body sizes alone. Range filling, i.e., the amount of suitable habitat occupied by a species, is less expressed in amphibians than in reptiles, possibly reflecting their lower dispersal capacity. Taxonomic composition of communities assessed by field surveys is largely explained by bioclimatic regions, with communities from the dry and especially subarid biomes distinctly differing from humid and subhumid biomes. ; Fieldwork was supported by Spanish Government grants CGL2009-10198 and CGL2013-40924-P to DRV. ; Peer reviewed

AbstractAimsNatural processes of change have been documented in treatment-seekers who begin to reduce their drinking in anticipation of treatment. The study examined whether non-treatment-seeking problem drinkers would engage in drinking reduction in anticipation of participating in a research study.MethodsNon-treatment-seeking problem drinkers (n = 935) were culled from five behavioral pharmacology studies. Participants reported on their alcohol use during the past 30 days using the Timeline Followback. Cluster analysis identified distinct groups/clusters based on drinking patterns over the 30-day pre-visit period. The identified clusters were compared on demographic and clinical measures.ResultsThree distinct clusters were identified (a) heavy-decreasing drinking group (n = 255, 27.27%); (b) a moderate-stable drinking group (n = 353, 37.75%) and (c) low-stable drinking group (n = 327, 34.97%). The three clusters differed significantly on a host of measures including pre-visit drinking (age at first drink, drinking days, drinks per week, drinks per drinking day), alcohol use severity, alcohol craving, readiness for change, depression and anxiety levels. These differences were alcohol dose-dependent such that the heavier drinking group reported the highest levels on all constructs, followed by the moderate group, and the low drinking group last.ConclusionsBaseline drinking patterns of non-treatment-seekers were generally stable and pre-visit reductions were only observed among the heavy drinking group. This generally stable pattern stands in contrast to previous reports for treatment-seeking samples. Nevertheless, the heavier drinking group, which is most similar to treatment-seekers, displayed pre-study drinking reduction. Overall, naturalistic processes of change may pose less of a threat to randomization and testing in this population.

The continued economic crisis has become a major test for the labour markets of individual member states. Labour mobility within the European Union has the potential to help to reduce labour market pressures and ease economic imbalances. However, a long-term loss of working age population can be detrimental to sending countries. This Forum explores mobility patterns within the European Union and analyses the labour market and welfare effects of labour mobility via case studies of the UK, Poland, Germany and Spain. It also examines a number of its aspects that have important political and institutional relevance for the European Union and its future.

Moghadam, Assaf: Introduction. - S. 1-21 Part I: Historical, doctrinal and religious context 1. Rahimi, Babak: The rise of Shia ideology in pre-revolutionary Iran. - S. 25-48 2. Menashri, David: Ayatollah Khomeini and the Velayat-e Faqih. - S. 49-69 Part II: Trends and patterns in the Shii heartland and beyond 3. Vakil, Sanam: Iran. - S. 73-94 4. Visser, Reidar: Iraq. - S. 95-111 5. Berti, Benedetta: Lebanon. - S. 112-134 6. Jones, Toby: Saudi Arabia. - S. 135-154 7. Abbas, Hassan: Pakistan. - S. 155-180 8. Williams, Brian Glyn: Afghanistan.- S. 181-200 9. Rabi, Uzi: Kuwait and Bahrain. - S. 201-216 Moghadam, Assaf: Conclusion: trends, types and drivers of militancy among Shiis. - S. 217-236

States have been widely criticized for failing to advance the international climate regime. Many observers now believe that a "new" climate governance is emerging through transnational and/or local forms of action that will eventually plug the resulting governance gaps. Yet states, which remain oddly absent from most discussions of the "new" governance, will remain key players as governance becomes more polycentric. This paper introduces a special issue that explores the ability of states to rise to these interconnected challenges through the analytical prism of policy innovation. It reveals that policy innovation is much more multi-dimensional than is often thought; it encompasses three vital activities: invention (centering on the 'source' of new policy elements), diffusion (that produces different 'patterns' of policy adoption), and the evaluation of the 'effects' that such innovations create in reality. The papers, which range from qualitative case studies to large '. n' quantitative studies, offer new insights into the varied roles that states play in relation to all three. They show, for instance that: the policy activity of states has risen dramatically in the past decade; that state innovation is affected to similar degrees by internal and external factors; and that policies that offer flexibility to target groups on how to meet policy goals are most effective but that voluntary reporting requirements are ineffective. This paper draws upon these and many other insights to offer a much more nuanced reflection on the future of climate governance; one that deservedly puts states at the front and center of analysis.

AbstractReferring to a standard context of voting theory, and to the classic notion of voting situation, here we show that it is possible to observe any arbitrary set of elections' outcomes, no matter how paradoxical it may appear. In this respect, we consider a set of candidates $$1, 2, \ldots , m $$

1
,
2
,
…
,
m

and, for any subset A of $$\{1, 2, \ldots , m \}$$

{
1
,
2
,
…
,
m
}

, we fix a ranking among the candidates belonging to A. We wonder whether it is possible to find a population of voters whose preferences, expressed according to the Condorcet's proposal, give rise to that family of rankings. We will show that, whatever be such family, a population of voters can be constructed that realize all the rankings of it. Our conclusions are similar to those coming from D. Saari's results. Our results are, however, constructive and allow for the study of quantitative aspects of the wanted voters' populations.