Visual framing of European Years in Romanian public communication campaign blogs

Since 1983, European Years (EY) have been implemented by the European Parliament and the European Council to raise the awareness of the local, regional, and national authorities on a common European issue. This article develops a visual framing analysis of the photographic representation of the European Year of Volunteering (2011) and the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (2012) at a national level. The data will focus on the photographic images uploaded on the campaign blogs of two Romanian non-governmental organizations. This study has a threefold aim: first, to compare and contrast the use of photographic images in the blogs of two Romanian public communication campaigns; second, to develop a model of visual framing analysis focused on types of represented participants, social actions, and shots; third, to argue that the objectives and outcomes of the public communication campaigns on EY issues depend on the type of “I-ness” versus “we-ness” society a country is.Desde 1983, los Años Europeos son aplicados por el Este artículo desarrolla un análisis de encuadre visual de la representación fotográfica del Año Europeo del Voluntariado (2011) y del Año Europeo del Envejecimiento Activo y la Solidaridad Intergeneracional (2012) a escala nacional. Los datos se centrarán en las imágenes fotográficas subidas en los blogs de campaña de dos organizaciones no gubernamentales rumanas. Este estudio tiene un triple objetivo: primero, comparar y contrastar el uso de las imágenes fotográficas en los blogs de dos campañas de comunicación rumanas; segundo, desarrollar un modelo de análisis de encuadre visual centrado en tipos de participantes representados, acciones sociales y tomas fotográficas; tercero, argumentar que los objetivos y los resultados de las campañas de comunicación pública de los Años Europeos dependen de la representación social desde el tipo "yo" frente al "nosotros"

A 900-year isotopic proxy rainfall record from Northeastern Botswana

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS : Figure S1: Age-depth model.A high-resolution climate archive was reconstructed based on carbon isotope analysis and radiocarbon dating of the Chapman baobab in northeastern Botswana. The Chapman baobab, which exhibited an open ring-shaped structure composed of six stems, collapsed in January 2016 during an intense El Niño event. Two samples belonging to the oldest stems were investigated in order to obtain a proxy rainfall record, which provides insight into the precipitation regime over the last millennium, evincing centennial and decadal scale variability. The results indicate that the Medieval Warm Period was marked by relatively stable precipitation, whereas rainfall variability and drought frequency increased during the Little Ice Age. The investigated area has experienced both wetter and drier conditions in the past. The wettest conditions of the last millennium were registered before 1450 while the driest period occurred in 1835. For southern Africa, inter-annual rainfall variability is mainly associated with sea surface temperatures in the Agulhas Current core region, which determine the east–west displacement of tropical temperate troughs. Previous studies suggested that positive sea surface temperature anomalies in the Mozambique Channel led to an eastward movement of the troughs but the Chapman record demonstrates a westward displacement in the past, causing drought in northeastern South Africa and wetter conditions in the central part of southern Africa. The positive rainfall correlation with SST anomalies reversed after 1900, causing a gradual decrease in precipitation and confirming the current aridity trend for Botswana. The results contribute to a better understanding of the past climate of southern Africa for which paleoclimate reconstructions remain scarce.The Romanian Ministry of Research CNCS-UEFISCDI.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forestsam2024Mammal Research InstituteSDG-15:Life on lan

A 250-year isotopic proxy rainfall record from southern Botswana

Climate records along aridity gradients where manifestations of climate change are most profound are important for testing climate models. The Kalahari Transect spans such a gradient, but instrumental records of climate parameters are limited in the sparsely populated region. We analysed the δ13C and δ18O record from a Vachellia erioloba (E.Mey) tree from the southern Kalahari Desert in Botswana to explore its potential as a climate proxy archive. Radiocarbon dates show that the record spans the period 1758-2013 CE. Both the δ13C and δ18O records correlate with local rainfall. The isotope proxies show a weak positive correlation with sea-surface temperature reconstruction from the southwestern Indian Ocean, and a stronger correlation with the El Niño Southern Oscillation index. This appears to contradict previous evidence that higher sea-surface temperatures are associated with reduced summer rainfall over the southern African interior. Instead of eastward shifts in the temperate tropical trough synoptic system during elevated southwestern Indian Ocean temperature anomalies, the evidence supports a westwards shift. The result demonstrates the potential of Vachellia erioloba as a climate proxy archive that may yield past climate variability from the arid regions of southern Africa.The National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa under the Research Grant for Unrated Researchers number CSUR13092647960. AMS radiocarbon analyses were supported by the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation CNCS-UEFISCDI under grant PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0776, Nr. 90/2017.http://chem.ubbcluj.ro/~studiachemiaam2019Mammal Research Institut

The growth stop phenomenon of baobabs (Adansonia spp.) identified by radiocarbon dating

The article reports the growth stop phenomenon, which was documented only for baobabs, i.e. for trees belonging to the Adansonia genus. The identification of growth stop was enabled by radiocarbon dating, which allows a complex investigation of samples collected from the trunk/stems of baobabs. In several cases, the outermost rings of baobabs, which were close to the bark, were found to be old, with ages of several hundreds of years, instead of being very young. Dating results of samples collected from six baobabs are presented. For multistemmed baobabs, the growth stop may occur only for one or several stems. We identified four factors that may induce the growth stop: (i) stress determined by severe climate conditions, (ii) old age, (iii) the need to keep a stable internal architecture, and (iv) the collapse of stems that survive this trauma. Baobabs and their stems affected by growth stop may survive for several centuries, by continuing to produce leaves, flowers, and fruits. This phenomenon was associated with the capacity of baobabs to store large amounts of water in their trunks/stems in the rainy season. This reservoir of water is used during the dry season and allows the trees to survive prolonged drought periods.Selected papers from the 2015 Radiocarbon Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 16–20 November 2015https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/radiocarbonhj2018Mammal Research Institut

Radiocarbon dating of African baobabs with two false cavities : the investigation of Luna tree

The paper discloses the radiocarbon investigation results of the Luna tree, a representative African baobab from Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve, South Africa. Several wood samples collected from deep incisions in the trunk were investigated by AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) radiocarbon dating. The age sequence of segments extracted from the oldest sample demonstrates that ages increase with the distance into the wood up to a point of maximum age, after which ages decrease toward the sample end. This anomaly is typical for multi-stemmed baobabs, having a closed ring-shaped structure with a false cavity inside. Dating results reveal that each of the two large fused units, which build the Luna tree, consist of such a closed ring. The two closed rings include two interconnected false inner cavities. False cavities are empty spaces between fused stems that were never filled with wood. We named this baobab architecture, which has a very high symmetry, double closed ring-shaped structure with two false cavities. The new architecture, which is very uncommon, enables baobabs to reach large sizes and very old ages. The radiocarbon date of the oldest sample segment was 1507 ± 22 BP, which corresponds to a calibrated age of 1405 ± 20 yr. We estimate that the oldest part of Luna tree has an age of 1600 ± 100 yr. By these results, the Luna tree becomes the fourth oldest African baobab with accurate dating results.The Romanian Ministry of National Education CNCS-UEFISCDI under grant PN-IIID- PCE-2013-76.http://chem.ubbcluj.ro/~studiachemiaam2016Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Multidecadal variability of summer temperature over Romania and its relation with Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation

We investigate the multidecadal variability of summer temperature over Romania as measured at 14 meteorological stations with long term observational records. The dominant pattern of summer temperature variability has a monopolar structure and shows pronounced multidecadal variations. A correlation analysis reveals that these multidecadal variations are related with multidecadal variations in the frequency of four daily atmospheric circulation patterns from the North Atlantic region. It is found that, on multidecadal time scales, negative summer mean temperature (TT) anomalies are associated with positive sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies centered over the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and Scandinavia and negative SLP anomalies centered over the northern part of Africa. It is speculated that a possible cause of multidecadal fluctuations in the frequency of these four patterns are the sea surface temperature anomalies associated to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. These results have implications for predicting the evolution of summer temperature over Romania on multidecadal time scales

The demise of the largest and oldest African baobabs

The African baobab is the biggest and longest-living angiosperm tree. By using radiocarbon dating we identified the stable architectures that enable baobabs to reach large sizes and great ages. We report that 9 of the 13 oldest and 5 of the 6 largest individuals have died, or at least their oldest parts/stems have collapsed and died, over the past 12 years; the cause of the mortalities is still unclear.The Romanian Ministry of National Education CNCS-UEFISCDI under grant PN-II-ID-PCE-2013-76 and by the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation CNCS-UEFISCDI under grant PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0776, no. 90/2017.http://www.nature.com/nplants2018-12-11hj2018Mammal Research Institut

Visual framing of European Years in Romanian public communication campaign blogs

Since 1983, European Years (EY) have been implemented by the European Parliament and the European Council to raise the awareness of the local, regional, and national authorities on a common European issue. This article develops a visual framing analysis of the photographic representation of the European Year of Volunteering (2011) and the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (2012) at a national level. The data will focus on the photographic images uploaded on the campaign blogs of two Romanian non-governmental organizations. This study has a threefold aim: first, to compare and contrast the use of photographic images in the blogs of two Romanian public communication campaigns; second, to develop a model of visual framing analysis focused on types of represented participants, social actions, and shots; third, to argue that the objectives and outcomes of the public communication campaigns on EY issues depend on the type of “I-ness” versus “we-ness” society a country is.Desde 1983, los Años Europeos son aplicados por el Este artículo desarrolla un análisis de encuadre visual de la representación fotográfica del Año Europeo del Voluntariado (2011) y del Año Europeo del Envejecimiento Activo y la Solidaridad Intergeneracional (2012) a escala nacional. Los datos se centrarán en las imágenes fotográficas subidas en los blogs de campaña de dos organizaciones no gubernamentales rumanas. Este estudio tiene un triple objetivo: primero, comparar y contrastar el uso de las imágenes fotográficas en los blogs de dos campañas de comunicación rumanas; segundo, desarrollar un modelo de análisis de encuadre visual centrado en tipos de participantes representados, acciones sociales y tomas fotográficas; tercero, argumentar que los objetivos y los resultados de las campañas de comunicación pública de los Años Europeos dependen de la representación social desde el tipo "yo" frente al "nosotros"