Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Pakistanis – Europe'

Entre les moltes comunitats migratòries existents al món, aquesta tesi doctoral estudia fonamentalment la comunitat dels ciutadans i ciutadanes pakistanesos que viuen a Catalunya, i també sobre les xarxes que han establert per consolidar i expandir la seva presència.
Aquesta tesi a més a més, estudia la situació de les famílies i de les comunitats d'origen al Pakistan per entendre millor els processos que han conduit cap a aquest fenomen migratori, la situació actual de la població pakistanesa a Catalunya, l'impacte de la migració en les famílies dels migrants al Pakistan i les perspectives a curt i mitjà termini d'aquest moviment de població.
La comunitat pakistanesa a Catalunya presenta un cas d'estudi interessant, no pel fet migratori en sí mateix, sinó perquè aquest moviment migratori té lloc sense que existissin lligams culturals, històrics i lingüístics previs entre el Pakistan i Catalunya, i perquè l'expansió ha estat molt ràpida en aquests darrers anys.
Un segon objectiu d'aquesta tesi és donar veu als participants en el projecte d'investigació i, a través d'ells, a la comunitat pakistanesa a Catalunya i a les seves famílies i comunitats d'origen.
Durant la segona meitat del segle vint, es van desenvolupar vàries teories, models i sistemes per intentar explicar la migració internacional. La realitat social i econòmica de la població pakistanesa a Catalunya i de les seves famílies en el Pakistan però, no s'hi ajusta gaire. Ara bé, totes elles contenen elements que poden ajudar a la comprensió del fenomen migratori i per tant convé considerar-les com un conjunt d'instruments que ajuden a capturar (no és incorrecta però la trobo un pèl forçada: copsar? captar? comprendre? ) una realitat complexa i constantment canviant.
La investigació ha permès de concloure que l'emigració pakistanesa a Catalunya està fonamentada en el diferencial econòmic entre els dos països, un diferencial que compensa els costos de la migració. La gran majoria de la població pakistanesa a Catalunya hi tenien una "àncora" abans de venir. L' origen comú de molts d'ells indica l'existència de xarxes migratòries basades en la relació familiar i/o social.
L'objectiu principal dels migrants és poder oferir una vida millor a les famílies, un objectiu a mitjà i llarg termini, atès que l'objectiu inicial consisteix en recuperar la inversió que suposa per a cada família enviar un dels seus a Catalunya. Facilitar l'arribada de nous immigrants no sembla ser un objectiu, sinó que és un fet que succeeix sense que es busqui.
Catalunya no és pas la destinació preferida dels migrants. La seva arribada és més aviat el resultat d'una curosa anàlisi cost/benefici en el sentit que Catalunya constitueix una destinació "fàcil" i "bé de preu".
En resum, es pot dir que la migració pakistanesa a Catalunya continuarà augmentant en els propers anys amb l'arribada principalment d'homes, però també de dones i nens i nenes, sempre i quan les condicions econòmiques i polítiques continuïn més o menys igual. Aquest creixement farà que els enclavaments pakistanesos a la ciutat de Barcelona s'enforteixin. Alhora, sorgiran altres enclavaments a la mateixa ciutat i a la zona metropolitana, i possiblement també a Girona i Tarragona, i més tard a Lleida. Aquests enclavaments funcionaran com un pol d'atracció per a nous migrants pakistanesos.
És molt possible que, seguint el model de migració pakistanesa a altres països europeus, els migrants pakistanesos s'esforcin per integrar-se en el món econòmic, però només els individus amb un nivell educatiu alt estaran disposats a desenvolupar lligams culturals i socials amb els catalans. La majoria de la població pakistanesa preferirà viure al marge de la societat catalana.
Tot i que molts voldrien tornar al Pakistan, és probable que la majoria romangui a Catalunya definitivament i amb la seva presència contribueixi a l'expansió continuada del moviment migratori pakistanès a traves de l'enfortiment de les xarxes migratòries i dels enclavaments pakistanesos.
Among the many migrant communities in the world, this doctoral dissertation focuses on the Pakistani community in Catalonia and the networks they have established to consolidate and expand their presence there.
In addition, this thesis studies the situation of families and the communities of origin in Pakistan to try to understand the processes that have led to this migratory phenomenon, the present situation of the Pakistani population in Catalonia, the impact of migration on their families in Pakistan, and the short and medium term prospects for this migratory movement.
The Pakistani community in Catalonia presents an interesting case study not because of the migratory movement itself, rather because the movement takes place in the absence of cultural, historical or linguistic links between Pakistan and Catalonia, and because of its fast expansion. A second objective is to give voice to the participants in the research and through them, to the Pakistani community in Catalonia and their families and communities of origin.
During the second half of the 20th century, many theories, models and systems were developed to try to explain international migration. However these theories fail to explain the social and economic reality of the Pakistani population in Catalonia and their families in Pakistan. Nonetheless, they may help understand the migratory phenomenon, and therefore they may be used as a set of instruments that help capture a complex and constantly changing reality.
The research shows that Pakistanis migrate to Catalonia prompted by the economic differential between the two countries and the perceived low risks/costs attached to it. The great majority of Pakistanis in Catalonia had an anchor before proceeding, be it a friend, a relative or even an acquaintance, that was crucial in facilitating their arrival and initial introduction. The common geographical origin of most of them shows the existence of migratory networks based on family and social relations.
The overall objective is to provide more and better for their families. But this is a medium or long term objective. Initially most of them need to recoup their or their family's initial investment to send them abroad, and only afterwards they can start saving for their families. Facilitating the arrival of other migrants is not an objective per se, bur rather an unintended effect.
Catalonia is not the migrants' preferred destination. The research findings indicate that the choice was made on the basis of a cost benefit analysis, i.e. they selected the destination which was the least costly and which brought the greatest benefits in the short term.
In summary, in the coming years Pakistani migration to Catalonia will continue and will probably grow exponentially through the arrival of mostly men, but also women and children, as long as economic and political conditions remain the same, or experience only minor variations. This growth will lead to the strengthening of existing Pakistani enclaves in Barcelona city, and the emergence of new ones in Barcelona and in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, and to a lesser degree in Girona, Tarragona and eventually Lleida. These enclaves will function as a pull factor attracting many more Pakistanis to Catalonia.
Based on the research findings and the experience of Pakistani migratory movements to other European destinations, Pakistani immigrants are likely to remain separate from the local population. Their desire to integrate will focus on the economic sphere, and only a few, better educated individuals, will be ready to establish and develop cultural and social links with the Catalan society. There is likely to be a strong resistance to adopt any mores of the host society and particularly to merge with it.
Despite their longing for Pakistan and Pakistani society, the majority of them will remain in Catalonia and will settle here, thus sustaining the Pakistani migratory movement and contributing to its expansion through the strengthening of existing enclaves and the emergence of new ones.

The subject matter of this thesis - Islamic nurture of Pakistani children in Oslo - provides a new departure for studies of ethnic minorities in Norway. The study distinguishes itself from related research by focusing on Islam as part of general enculturisation and socialisation processes, with special regard to the social arenas of home, school and mosque. The main research questions of the thesis are: 1. How is religious and cultural tradition transmitted from parents and other 'significant others' to children among Pakistanis in Oslo? 2. What role does Islam have in the lives of children, with regard to meaning and social belonging? The first research question contains two complex theoretical fields: a) The relationship between culture and religion seen both as aspects within Islam and in terms of the relationship between Islam and Pakistani cultural elements, and b) the transmission process, focusing on both formal educational elements and informal socialisation. Based on one year's field work, theories of Islamic nurture in a non-Islamic, secular late-modem society, especially related to the establishment, maintenance and negotiation of identity, have been generated. The thesis contests the view that regards Islam or Pakistani or Norwegian culture as coherent static systems. It also contests views that regard children exclusively as objects or victims of external processes or pressure or present children of immigrant background or children belonging to religious minorities, as doomed to fall `between cultures'. Norwegian Pakistani children's cultural identity does not only change over time, but it is a contextual identity. The children develop what in this thesis is called integrated plural identities; i. e. they convey a broad cultural competence and a capability of cultural code switching without necessarily experiencing personal conflicts of values.

Also, a lower level of heterosocial anxiety was found to be negatively correlated with assimilation to U.S culture, which may have attributed to less heterosocial iv anxiety was found to be negatively correlated with assimilation to U.S culture, which may have attributed to less heterosocial anxiety in Pakistani women.; This present study will examine the psychopathology of Pakistani American females through the context of cultural means. Research in the past has shown that Asian Americans report higher levels of distress as well as higher levels of anxiety relative to their European American counterparts. Thus, social anxiety may manifest itself differently among Asian Americans because of the cultural and ethnic variations in psychopathology. This study will aim to examine cultural differences in social anxiety because it may help explain the etiology of social as well as heterosocial anxiety and facilitate in forming better diagnostic assessments, scales and treatments for non-mainstream cultural groups such as Pakistanis and potentially other South Asian groups living in the United States. Additionally, Pakistani women have limited interactions with the opposite sex because of the religious and cultural background that emphasizes modesty and arranged marriage. Medical research suggests that Muslim women of Asian backgrounds, have requested female health care service providers rather than male providers. Given the cultural and sociological influences that impact psychopathology, it was hypothesized that Pakistani American women will report more heterosocial anxiety than European American women and that their heterosocial anxiety will be related to parental influence on mate choice and American acculturation. Results indicated that European women reported higher levels of heterosocial and social anxiety in comparison to Pakistani women. This may have occurred due to the Pakistani women in this sample not being truly representative of the Pakistani population as they were all young, college students.
B.S.
Bachelors
Sciences
Psychology

Dumping is to unfairly sell goods at a lower price (at foreign market) as compared to their normal value at domestic market of the manufacturing country, thus causing material injury to the local industry of the importing country. Other researchers have explored the global (WTO Agreement) and the European Union’s (EU) Anti-Dumping law mostly with a commercial perspective. At doctoral level EU-China, EU-Japan and EU-Korea trade relations with reference to the application of protective measures have been studied. This dissertation is, however, the very first aimed to examine the application of EU Anti-Dumping law relating to Pakistan. This is a complete health check of EU-Pakistan trade relations with reference to the application of Anti-dumping duties on Pakistan. This study is a combination of doctrinal research and empirical research, whereby it critically evaluates the Commission’s investigation and the judgements of the EU Courts related to Pakistan and thus establish their consistency or inconsistency; it also studies the voting patterns within the Council and the impact of AD duties on Pakistani imports. It is a qualitative exploratory study based upon an inductive approach. Contradictions are found in the calculations of normal value and export price, constructed normal value, the comparison of normal value and export price, the calculation of dumping margin, and the calculation of injury. Suggestions are made as to the extent to which Unions’ anti-dumping rules need to be reviewed to moderate their tilt that unequivocally favours Union manufacturers. Moreover, this dissertation identifies many provisions of the basic regulation, which being too vague offers multiple interpretations, which are thus recommended to be amended. In the empirical part of this research the voting style of EU member states for or against the adoption of AD measures against Pakistan has been studied. Thereafter, the content analysis of stated reasons for specific voting styles reveals that the member states vote on the basis of the findings and conclusions of investigation as done by the Commission, thus trade partner loyalty is not the reason for their voting. Furthermore, application of the ADDs is found to be reason of import decline from Pakistan to the EU.

This study investigates the processes through which attendance at a community school affects the development of cultural and academic identities of Greek/Greek-Cypriot and Pakistani ethnic minority young people who live in the United Kingdom. The development of cultural and academic identities by community school students is a relatively underesearched and undertheorized area. The theoretical framework of this study draws on developments in cultural developmental theory (Valsiner, 2000a) and the dialogical self theory (Hermans, 2001 a) to understand the cultural and dialogical nature of the processes through which ethnic minority young people develop their identities in community schools. Both theories are influenced by dynamic perspectives on development and have tried to explain psychological phenomena in relation to the sociocultural context. Episodic interviews, drawings and group work were the tools for data collection and multiple perspectives (students', parents' and teachers') were investigated. This small-scale research took place in a Greek and a Pakistani community school. The pupils, both girls and boys, were adolescents aged 13 to 18 years. The findings suggest that the young people in both groups were moving towards multiple, hybrid identities through a dialogical negotiation of aspects of differences! similarities and belonging within their majority and minority communities as well as living in a multicultural society. This negotiation resulted in a multivoiced hybrid identity which emerged through a constant positioning and re-positioning within their communities and school contexts. For the participants in the Pakistani school this negotiation was a struggle shaped by issues of racism and religious discrimination. In this context, the Pakistani school mainly aimed to increase self-confidence and strengthen the students' sense of minority cultural identity, especially the religious aspect of it, whereas the Greek school mainly aimed to preserve the community's cultural identity which was considered to be threatened by assimilation. In both community schools, a strong academic identity was endorsed which had a double function -to foster the acquisition of both knowledge and skills relevant to community education and those relevant to mainstream and higher education. This study demonstrated the value of examining community schools within contrasting communities, and its findings have implications for Psychology and Education.

Le norme, le politiche e le prassi interne in Pakistan non sono sempre in linea con l’obbligo di assicurare il rispetto dei diritti umani senza discriminazioni. Ciò si deve sia a fattori interni che esterni. A livello interno, il forte relativismo culturale e religioso, l’allontanamento del sistema giuridico della Sharia dall'Ijtihad (ragionamento giuridico indipendente) verso il Taqleed (seguire un percorso predefinito), le eredità coloniali, l'esistenza di istituzioni statali parallele, la continua divisione tra la maggioranza tradizionalista e la minoranza modernista della società pakistana, la riluttanza e l'incapacità del legislatore, portano all'adozione di riforme legislative che altro non sono che il frutto di compromessi. Esternamente, due insidie del diritto internazionale dei diritti umani perpetuano questo problema: la possibilità di introdurre riserve ai trattati pertinenti e la mancanza di efficaci meccanismi volti alla loro attuazione. Le riserve permettono una diffusa partecipazione ai trattati internazionali sui diritti umani, ma minano la capacità delle norme in esse contenute di raggiungere uno status universalistico e possono assecondare il relativismo culturale e religioso. D'altra parte, la mancanza di un meccanismo di attuazione coercitiva impedisce l'applicazione sostanziale e la realizzazione indiscriminata a livello nazionale delle norme sui diritti umani, al di là del loro riconoscimento formale. Qualsiasi proposta per la soluzione di questi problemi dovrebbe essere bidimensionale. Dovrebbe avere il potenziale per mediare i lati negativi dell'attuale sistema internazionale di protezione dei diritti umani, fornendo efficaci meccanismi di attuazione e, al contempo essere accettabile per le parti interessate, a fronte di un forte relativismo culturale e religioso. A livello interno, tale obiettivo può essere raggiunto leggendo la Sharia alla luce degli obblighi sui diritti umani, da un lato, e promuovendo un'interpretazione dei diritti umani meno focalizzata sul modello occidentale, dall’altro. Dagli esempi progressisti di Tunisia, Egitto e Marocco, il Pakistan può imparare come la Sharia possa essere interpretata in modo modernista con un approccio non essenzialista e come le dottrine di Ijtihad, Takhayyur e Talfiq, invece del Taqleed, debbano essere impiegate. Ciò sarà fondamentale per raggiungere l'obiettivo di riformulare o ritirare le ampie e vaghe riserve apposte dal Pakistan ai regimi pattizi sui diritti umani. A livello esterno, meccanismi di attuazione efficaci per l’attuazione delle norme sui diritti umani possono essere ricercati al di fuori degli strumenti sui diritti umani. Così, il rispetto dei diritti umani potrebbe essere associato ad incentivi economici e commerciali. L'Unione europea interagisce con gli Stati terzi attraverso la politica commerciale comune, l'assistenza, la cooperazione allo sviluppo e fornendo posizioni commerciali preferenziali e altri incentivi economici ai paesi in via di sviluppo. Rispettare e promuovere i diritti umani è una condizione per acquisire e mantenere lo status di beneficiario del libero scambio. Questa ricerca analizzerà innanzitutto le norme internazionali sui diritti umani vincolanti per il Pakistan e gli esempi di riserve poste ai trattati pertinenti da altri paesi di tradizione islamica. Guarderà poi al sistema giuridico e politico del Pakistan dal punto di vista delle norme internazionali sui diritti umani. Soffermandosi sulle relazioni economiche tra l'UE e il Pakistan, esaminerà la cooperazione tra l'UE e il Pakistan, cercando di valutare quali sono le aree trascurate e le lacune, e quale ulteriore ruolo può svolgere l'UE nella promozione e attuazione delle norme internazionali sui diritti umani in Pakistan, in modo da valutare se il commercio possa effettivamente essere un mezzo per respingere le spinte relativiste al concetto universalista dei diritti umani, come suggerirebbe l'adagio il commercio unisce i nemici
The domestic laws, policies, and practices of Pakistan are hardly in line with the Country’s international commitments to indiscriminately respect human rights. This is due both to internal and to external factors. Internally, strong cultural and religious relativism, misconceived departure of Shariah legal system from Ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) to Taqleed (following a predefined path), colonial legacies, the existence of parallel state institutions, the continuous divide between the majority traditionalist and minority modernist segments of Pakistani society, and the reluctance and inability of legislature, lead to the adoption of legislative reforms that are no more than the child of compromises. Externally, two pitfalls of international human rights law perpetuate this problem: the possibility to introduce reservations to human rights treaties and the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms. While allowing a widespread participation to international human rights treaties, reservations undermine the potential of human rights standards to achieve universalist status and may lead to cultural and religious relativism. On the other hand, the lack of a coercive enforcement mechanism impinges upon the substantial application and indiscriminate realization at the domestic level of human rights standards, beyond their formal recognition. In order to be effective, any proposed solution to these problems should be two-dimensional. It should have the potential to mediate the downsides of the existing international human rights protection system, by providing effective enforcement mechanisms, but at the same time it should be acceptable to the relevant stakeholders, at the face of strong cultural and religious relativism. Internally, this can be done by reading Shariah in line with human rights obligations, on one hand, and advocating for a less western-centric interpretation of human rights, on the other hand. From the progressive examples of Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco, Pakistan can learn how the rules of Shariah can be given modernist interpretations with a non-essentialist approach and how the doctrines of Ijtihad, Takhayyur, and Talfiq, instead of Taqleed, should be employed. Adoption of these tools and attitudes will be instrumental in achieving the objective to reformulate, narrow down and/or withdraw Pakistan’s broad and vague reservations to human rights treaty regimes. Externally, effective enforcement mechanisms for the purpose of implementing international human rights standards may be sought outside human rights instruments. Thus, human rights compliance could be associated to trade and other economic incentives. The European Union interacts with non-EU states through common commercial policy, assistance, development cooperation and by providing preferential trading positions and other economic incentives to developing and least developing countries. Respecting, ensuring, and promoting international human rights is a condition for acquiring and retaining free trade beneficiary statuses. This research will first analyse the international human rights standards binding on Pakistan and examples of reservations placed to human rights treaties by other countries of Islamic tradition. Secondly, it will examine the domestic legal and political system of Pakistan from the perspective of international human rights law. Focusing on the economic relations between the EU and Pakistan, it will then examine the current nature and level of engagements between EU and Pakistan, and it will attempt to assess what are the neglected areas and the loopholes and what further role the EU can play in the promotion and effective enforcement of international human rights standards in Pakistan, so as to assess whether trade could actually be a means to mediate the relativist challenge to the universalist concept of human rights, as the adage “trade brings the enemies together” would suggest.

Cette thèse se propose d’étudier les mutations engendrées par la globalisation numérique au sein de dispositifs de formation à distance. Elle s’intéresse au cas spécifique des universités ouvertes dans plusieurs pays. Ces systèmes, qui permettent généralement l’accès aux études à distance et sans condition spécifique d’admission, diffusent de façon massive des programmes d’enseignement. Majoritairement présentes en Asie, elles se sont implantées dans de nombreux pays, en particulier dans le Commonwealth. Le cas des universités ouvertes permet ainsi d’adopter une perspective comparative, sur des terrains habituellement peu fréquentés par la recherche francophone. À travers l’analyse d’entretiens confrontés à des discours institutionnels, la thèse s’appuie sur une méthodologie permettant de qualifier la transition numérique au sein de huit universités ouvertes du monde, en Afrique, en Europe et en Asie. Elle propose un modèle de compréhension des mutations subies dans ces organisations distancielles dans une perspective globale (MOTION). Ce modèle permet de décrire un système dans sa dynamique d’évolution et d’anticiper les évolutions futures
This thesis explores the variations of digital globalization within distance-learning systems. It studies the specific case of open universities in different countries. These systems, which generally provide access to post-secondary education with no prior requirement for admissions, develop educational programs on a massive scale. These programs, located in many countries, are predominantly active in Asia and most particularly in the Commonwealth. This example allows us to adopt a comparative perspective in an area that is not typically explored through Francophone research. Through the analysis of interviews contrasted to institutional discourses, the thesis presents a methodology qualifying the digital transition in eight open universities of the world: Africa, Europe and Asia. It proposes a model for understanding the transformations experienced in these distance-learning organizations within a global perspective (MOTION). This model provides a description of the dynamics within a system’s evolution process and anticipate future evolutions

Defence date: 18 January 2007
Examining board: Prof. Laurence Fontaine (EUI and EHESS, Paris)-supervisor ; Prof. Pnina Werbner (Keele University)-external supervisor ; Prof. Philippe Fargues (American University in Cairo) ; Prof. Anne Phizacklea (University of Warwick)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
No abstract available

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (31 ° 49'N, 70 ° 55'E bis 35 ° 50'N, 71 ° 47'E) liegt im Nordwesten Pakistans im Süden Asiens. Das Hindukusch-Gebirge in Afghanistan liegt im Westen, dem indischen Himalaya im Nordosten und die Karakorum Berge südlich vom tibetischen Hochland auf der Nordseite. Diese Arbeit besteht überwiegend aus drei separaten Studien entlang eines 200 km langen Transekts mit einem Höhengradienten ausgehend von den Sedimentbecken im Peshawar Tal (275 m ü.M.) bis hinauf zu den Malam Jabba Hills im Swat-Tal (2600 m ü.M.). Die erste Studie, die auf einer Datengrundlage von 160 Poaceae Arten beruht, zeigt Trends, dass polyploide C3- und C4-Poaceae-Arten größere Pollenkkörner als die jeweiligen diploiden Arten haben. In diesem Datensatz haben alle C4-Arten größere Pollenkörner als die C3-Arten. Ob Grassländer von C3 oder C4 Arten dominiert werden kann in verschiedenen Regionen und Lebensräumen durch die Untersuchung der Muster des Trends von zu- oder abnehmenden Pollenkorngrößen ermittelt werden. In unserem Datensatz ist Polyploidie bei C4-Gräsern häufiger als bei den C3 Arten. Die verwendete Methode kann auf Poaceae-Pollenkörner in Umweltarchiven angewendet werden, um das Klima der Vergangenheit zu rekonstruieren und die Dynamik der früheren Graslandökosysteme zu bewerten. Dieser Ansatz wird nicht nur bei laufenden paläoökologischen Studien helfen aufzuklären, wie die Änderungen der Vegetations-zusammensetzung und die Veränderungen in Biomen vergangener Graslandökosysteme zu entschlüsseln sind, sondern auch nützliche Erkenntnisse für die Vorhersage zukünftiger Entwicklungen ermöglichen. Die zweite Studie befasst sich mit modernen Pollenspektren aus Oberflächenproben und ihre Beziehung zu der umgebenden Vegetation, die nützliche Daten für die Interpretation von holozänen Pollenprofilen bietet. Dabei konnten entlang eines 200 km langen Höhengradienten vier verschiedene Höhenstufen unterschieden werden, wo die dominierenden Pflanzenfamilien, Poaceae, Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Verbenaceae, Acanthaceae und Euphorbiaceae eine signifikante Korrelation mit dem gefunden Pollenniederschlag hatten, während sich bei anderen Familien, den Boraginaceae, Saxifragaceae, Apiaceae, Balsaminaceae und Rubiaceae große Unterschiede zu der zugehörigen Vegetationszusammensetzung ergaben. Für die Kalibrierung und Interpretation fossiler Pollendaten sollte also immer auch die aktuellen Beziehungen von Pollenniederschlag und Vegetationsdaten zumindest auf der Familienebene berücksichtigt werden. Die dritte Studie befasst sich mit einem Pollenprofil aus der Kabal Swat-Region, welches eine detaillierte Geschichte der Vegetation und des Klimas des Hindukuschs der letzten 3300 Jahre, also dem späten Holozäns enthält. Von 3300 bis 2400 cal BP, war eine subtropische semiaride krautige Vegetation hauptsächlich durch Cyperaceae- und Poaceae-Arten vertreten. Sie wurde ersetzt von gemischten Nadelwäldern mit Taxus, Pinus, sowie Juglans, Poaceae und Cyperaceae während der Zeit von 2400 bis 900 cal BP, was auf eine vergleichsweise moderate Klimaschwankung während des späten Holozäns weist. Der Rückgang der Poaceae von 2400 bis1500 cal BP und eine erneute Zunahme von 1500 bis 1200 cal BP Jahre zeigen, dass das Kabal Swat nass-kühlere und trocken-wärmere Phasen durchmachte. Nadelbäume in den gemischten Nadelwäldern treten heute bei größeren Höhe im alpinen Bereich auf. Weitere hochauflösende holozäne Pollenprofile des Hindukusch sind notwendig, um einen ausführlicheren Vergleich zu anderen süd- und zentralasiatischen Paläo-Archiven zu ermöglichen, die auch ein detaillierteres und anwendbares Wissen für Management und Naturschutzfragen ergeben.

BACKGROUND: Bradford, one of the most deprived cities in the United Kingdom, has a wide range of public health problems associated with socioeconomic deprivation, including an infant mortality rate almost double that for England and Wales. Infant mortality is highest for babies of Pakistani origin, who comprise almost half the babies born in Bradford. The Born in Bradford cohort study aims to examine environmental, psychological and genetic factors that impact on health and development perinatally, during childhood and subsequent adult life, and those that influence their parents' health and wellbeing. This protocol outlines methods for the recruitment phase of the study. METHODS: Most Bradford women attend for antenatal care and give birth at the Bradford Royal Infirmary, which has approximately 5,800 births per year. Women are eligible for recruitment if they plan to give birth here. Babies born from March 2007 are eligible to participate, recruitment is planned to continue until 2010. Fathers of babies recruited are invited to participate. Women are usually recruited when they attend for a routine oral glucose tolerance test at 26-28 weeks gestation. Recruitment of babies is at birth. Fathers are recruited whenever possible during the antenatal period, or soon after the birth. The aim is to recruit 10,000 women, their babies, and the babies' fathers. At recruitment women have blood samples taken, are interviewed to complete a semi-structured questionnaire, weighed, and have height, arm circumference and triceps skinfold measured. Umbilical cord blood is collected at birth. Within two weeks of birth babies have their head, arm and abdominal circumference measured, along with subscapular and triceps skinfold thickness. Fathers self-complete a questionnaire at recruitment, have height and weight measured, and provide a saliva sample. Participants are allocated a unique study number. NHS numbers will be used to facilitate record linkage and access to routine data. A wide range of hospital and community sources is being accessed to provide data for the women and children. Data are checked for accuracy and consistency. CONCLUSION: Born in Bradford will increase understanding of the factors that contribute to health and wellbeing, and identify factors that influence differences in them between people of Pakistani and European origin.