This study examines the evolution of Al-Shabaab’s extremist ideology in the Horn of Africa through David Rapoport’s Four Waves of Terrorism framework. It aims to analyze the persistent influence of Al-Shabaab amidst...This study examines the evolution of Al-Shabaab’s extremist ideology in the Horn of Africa through David Rapoport’s Four Waves of Terrorism framework. It aims to analyze the persistent influence of Al-Shabaab amidst counterinsurgency efforts, highlighting the interplay between local grievances and global jihadist narratives. Through an ideological analysis of secondary sources, the research reveals that Al-Shabaab merges Somali nationalism with global jihadist ideologies, framing its struggle as both a local defense against foreign intervention and part of Islamic movement. This dual narrative is crucial for sustaining recruitment and operational resilience, illustrating the complexities of contemporary terrorism in the region.展开更多
The species diversity and altitudinal distribution of amphibians along an eleva tional gradient of 200-1600 m in the Xianxialing and Wuyishan Mountain Ranges in Southeastern China were investiga ted through time-const...The species diversity and altitudinal distribution of amphibians along an eleva tional gradient of 200-1600 m in the Xianxialing and Wuyishan Mountain Ranges in Southeastern China were investiga ted through time-constra ined visual surveys along 32 transect lines in 9 survey areas,in which the ha bitat types were also recorded.A total of 27 amphibian species belonging to 19 genera,7 families,and 2 orders were found.The species diversity of the amphibians plateaued at low elevation,and the altitudinal boundary of their distribution was at 800 m.Their species compositions were dissimilar in the two mountain ranges probably beca use the annual average temperature and annual rainfall were different in both areas.The eleva tional Rapoport's rule demonstrated that the species range size of the amphibians expanded as the elevation increased in both mountain ranges.The results of the cross species method supported the rule only when the influence of the low-frequency occurrence proba bility of an investigated species was excluded,whereas those of the Steven's method strongly corroborated the rule rega rdless of the incidental occurrence or absence of the species.展开更多
Mountains are biodiversity hotspots,and due to their unique microclimatic circumstances,they host a vast range of endemic species.There are two main hypotheses,the Rapoport and the mid-domain effect hypotheses,which e...Mountains are biodiversity hotspots,and due to their unique microclimatic circumstances,they host a vast range of endemic species.There are two main hypotheses,the Rapoport and the mid-domain effect hypotheses,which explain how elevation and species richness are linked.The current study was conducted in the Al-Hada escarpment,which is a unique area in the world.It is located on the border of Eurasia and Africa,where there are a lot of plant species from both places.The study aimed to detect the effect of elevation on the floristic composition of the study area.The obtained results showed that the Al-Hada escarpment flora consists of 297 species belonging to 194 genera and fifty-seven distinct families.Only two families,Poaceae and Asteracae,had 22%of the whole recorded species.The obtained results showed that with increasing elevation,the numbers of species,genera,and families increased,in accordance with the Rapoport hypothesis.The numbers of families increased by 62%from the lowest elevation to the highest one,while the numbers of both species and genera increased by more than twofolds.Therophytes exhibited the maximum number,which was 44%,and Chamaephytes came in second with 25%.Phanerophytes and hemicryptophytes made up 13%and 11%of all life forms,respectively,while geophytes made up just 7%.Monoregional elements represented 33.2%of the total recorded species,where Saharo-Sindian species had the most monoregional species,accounting for around 13%of the total species.At the highest elevation,succulents accounted for 7.6%of the research area,whereas Nfixing plants accounted for 6.2%.At the highest elevation,they had the lowest value,and at the middle elevation,they had the highest value.With the rise in elevation,the neotropical,endemic,and Mediterranean elements rose.Succulents and Nfixing species did not show a clear relationship with the elevation but exhibited the lowest value at the highest elevation,and vice versa.Therophytes and geophytes increased while the number of hemicryptophytes decreased with elevation.Surprisingly,phanerophytes did not show any relationship with elevation,while,with the rise in elevation,the pan-tropical,endemic,and Mediterranean elements rose.Neotropical and Saharo-Sindian elements decreased with the rise in elevation.Considering our results,we can conclude that the relationship of taxa diversity with the different altitude of the arid subtropical regions’mountains,whose elevation does not exceed 2000 m(without human disturbance),confirms the Rapoport hypothesis.展开更多
This study aimed to compare the distribution patterns and trends of plant parts used among different groups of medicinal plants, geographical regions,and between medicinal plants and all vascular plants.We used the pu...This study aimed to compare the distribution patterns and trends of plant parts used among different groups of medicinal plants, geographical regions,and between medicinal plants and all vascular plants.We used the published sources for elevation records of 2,331 medicinal plant species to interpolate presence between minimum and maximum elevations and estimated medicinal plant richness for each 100-m elevational band. Monte Carlo simulations were used to test whether differences in elevational distribution between different groups of medicinal plants were significant. Total number of medicinal plants as well as different groups showed unimodal relationship with elevation. The elevational distributions of medicinal plants significantly differ between regions and between medicinal plant groups.When comparing the richness of all medicinal plants to all vascular plants,Monte Carlo simulations indicated that the numbers of medicinal plants are higher than expected at low elevations.The highest richness of medicinal plants at low elevation could be possibly due to favorable environmental factors such as high temperature, rainfall,sunlight or due to higher density of human population and thus higher pressure on use of any plants in lower elevations.展开更多
The subject of the Holocaust appeared in Israeli art from the establishment of the State and onwards. The integration of the Holocaust in Israeli art through the years was influenced by Israeli society and the Israeli...The subject of the Holocaust appeared in Israeli art from the establishment of the State and onwards. The integration of the Holocaust in Israeli art through the years was influenced by Israeli society and the Israeli art institutional attitude towards the subject and by local historical events. As a result, we witness a development of two directions in Israeli art concerning the Holocaust. One of them has two facets： a massive use of images emphasizing the enormous personal as well as collective destruction of the Jewish nation as the ultimate victim that ＂the entire world is against us＂; While the other facet is that despite the Jewish people emerge battered and humiliated from the Holocaust, they built a country to be an immovable, permanent and safe place for the Jewish nation since ＂there is no one else except for us to do it＂. The other direction regarding the Holocaust that developed in Israeli art, examining in an universal approach the Israeli response to the Holocaust through the prism of local historical events occurring since the establishment of the State. Therefore, we see imagery that examines the aggressive impression of the Israelis, as an internal as well as external criticism of what seems as aggression and violence against another nation. In Israel, as well as in other Modem states, art is used as a means for expression of different viewpoints. In this article, I am focusing on the artistic references to the above approaches to the Holocaust.展开更多
文摘This study examines the evolution of Al-Shabaab’s extremist ideology in the Horn of Africa through David Rapoport’s Four Waves of Terrorism framework. It aims to analyze the persistent influence of Al-Shabaab amidst counterinsurgency efforts, highlighting the interplay between local grievances and global jihadist narratives. Through an ideological analysis of secondary sources, the research reveals that Al-Shabaab merges Somali nationalism with global jihadist ideologies, framing its struggle as both a local defense against foreign intervention and part of Islamic movement. This dual narrative is crucial for sustaining recruitment and operational resilience, illustrating the complexities of contemporary terrorism in the region.
基金The work was carried out in compliance with the current laws on animal welfare and research in China,and was supported by grants from the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China(LQ16C040001,LY17C030003)National Natural Science Foundation of China(31500308,31971414)+1 种基金Special Founda tion fur Basic Work of the Science and technology Ministry of China(2015FY110200)Zhejiang Science and Technology Innovation Program for College Students(2019R434006).We thank Hongxing GUO,Yingchao HU,Youfu LIN,Hongze QI,Zeshuang WANG,Haohua WEI,Yankun WU and Yaofei YU for assistance during the research.
文摘The species diversity and altitudinal distribution of amphibians along an eleva tional gradient of 200-1600 m in the Xianxialing and Wuyishan Mountain Ranges in Southeastern China were investiga ted through time-constra ined visual surveys along 32 transect lines in 9 survey areas,in which the ha bitat types were also recorded.A total of 27 amphibian species belonging to 19 genera,7 families,and 2 orders were found.The species diversity of the amphibians plateaued at low elevation,and the altitudinal boundary of their distribution was at 800 m.Their species compositions were dissimilar in the two mountain ranges probably beca use the annual average temperature and annual rainfall were different in both areas.The eleva tional Rapoport's rule demonstrated that the species range size of the amphibians expanded as the elevation increased in both mountain ranges.The results of the cross species method supported the rule only when the influence of the low-frequency occurrence proba bility of an investigated species was excluded,whereas those of the Steven's method strongly corroborated the rule rega rdless of the incidental occurrence or absence of the species.
基金Taif University Researchers Supporting Project(TURSP-2020/199),Taif University,Taif,Saudi Arabia for supporting this work。
文摘Mountains are biodiversity hotspots,and due to their unique microclimatic circumstances,they host a vast range of endemic species.There are two main hypotheses,the Rapoport and the mid-domain effect hypotheses,which explain how elevation and species richness are linked.The current study was conducted in the Al-Hada escarpment,which is a unique area in the world.It is located on the border of Eurasia and Africa,where there are a lot of plant species from both places.The study aimed to detect the effect of elevation on the floristic composition of the study area.The obtained results showed that the Al-Hada escarpment flora consists of 297 species belonging to 194 genera and fifty-seven distinct families.Only two families,Poaceae and Asteracae,had 22%of the whole recorded species.The obtained results showed that with increasing elevation,the numbers of species,genera,and families increased,in accordance with the Rapoport hypothesis.The numbers of families increased by 62%from the lowest elevation to the highest one,while the numbers of both species and genera increased by more than twofolds.Therophytes exhibited the maximum number,which was 44%,and Chamaephytes came in second with 25%.Phanerophytes and hemicryptophytes made up 13%and 11%of all life forms,respectively,while geophytes made up just 7%.Monoregional elements represented 33.2%of the total recorded species,where Saharo-Sindian species had the most monoregional species,accounting for around 13%of the total species.At the highest elevation,succulents accounted for 7.6%of the research area,whereas Nfixing plants accounted for 6.2%.At the highest elevation,they had the lowest value,and at the middle elevation,they had the highest value.With the rise in elevation,the neotropical,endemic,and Mediterranean elements rose.Succulents and Nfixing species did not show a clear relationship with the elevation but exhibited the lowest value at the highest elevation,and vice versa.Therophytes and geophytes increased while the number of hemicryptophytes decreased with elevation.Surprisingly,phanerophytes did not show any relationship with elevation,while,with the rise in elevation,the pan-tropical,endemic,and Mediterranean elements rose.Neotropical and Saharo-Sindian elements decreased with the rise in elevation.Considering our results,we can conclude that the relationship of taxa diversity with the different altitude of the arid subtropical regions’mountains,whose elevation does not exceed 2000 m(without human disturbance),confirms the Rapoport hypothesis.
基金supported by GACR 526/09/0549and partly by AV0Z60050516
文摘This study aimed to compare the distribution patterns and trends of plant parts used among different groups of medicinal plants, geographical regions,and between medicinal plants and all vascular plants.We used the published sources for elevation records of 2,331 medicinal plant species to interpolate presence between minimum and maximum elevations and estimated medicinal plant richness for each 100-m elevational band. Monte Carlo simulations were used to test whether differences in elevational distribution between different groups of medicinal plants were significant. Total number of medicinal plants as well as different groups showed unimodal relationship with elevation. The elevational distributions of medicinal plants significantly differ between regions and between medicinal plant groups.When comparing the richness of all medicinal plants to all vascular plants,Monte Carlo simulations indicated that the numbers of medicinal plants are higher than expected at low elevations.The highest richness of medicinal plants at low elevation could be possibly due to favorable environmental factors such as high temperature, rainfall,sunlight or due to higher density of human population and thus higher pressure on use of any plants in lower elevations.
文摘The subject of the Holocaust appeared in Israeli art from the establishment of the State and onwards. The integration of the Holocaust in Israeli art through the years was influenced by Israeli society and the Israeli art institutional attitude towards the subject and by local historical events. As a result, we witness a development of two directions in Israeli art concerning the Holocaust. One of them has two facets： a massive use of images emphasizing the enormous personal as well as collective destruction of the Jewish nation as the ultimate victim that ＂the entire world is against us＂; While the other facet is that despite the Jewish people emerge battered and humiliated from the Holocaust, they built a country to be an immovable, permanent and safe place for the Jewish nation since ＂there is no one else except for us to do it＂. The other direction regarding the Holocaust that developed in Israeli art, examining in an universal approach the Israeli response to the Holocaust through the prism of local historical events occurring since the establishment of the State. Therefore, we see imagery that examines the aggressive impression of the Israelis, as an internal as well as external criticism of what seems as aggression and violence against another nation. In Israel, as well as in other Modem states, art is used as a means for expression of different viewpoints. In this article, I am focusing on the artistic references to the above approaches to the Holocaust.
