Contributions to the flora and vegetation of Kagbeni (Mustan District, Central Nepal)

Kagbeni and its irrigated oasis are surrounded by subdesert dwarf scrubland. In the present study, a list of 78 species of vascular plants is presented for Kagbeni and its immediate surroundings, supplemented with data on the distribution of the species within the entire Mustan District. The data are arrived from own investigations and the geobotanical literature. A phytogeographical analysis shows the prevalence of western over eastern elements. Species with a wide distribution in Eurasia, which constitute one third of the total flora of Kagbeni, are of great importance as weeds on arable fields and in ruderal places within the irrigated oasis. Their occurrence is closely related to human activity. Presumably, most of these weeds have reached the area under study in connection with agriculture a long time ago. Weeds from the New World, although recorded in other villages of Mustan District, have not been found in Kagbeni. The weed vegetation of Kagbeni is documented by nine vegetation releves, and is compared to releves from Jomsom and Mzrpha. A floristic gradient from south to north that has been detected by earlier investigations throughout the whole district can be reproduced at the local scale. With regard to the weed flora, the effects of different crops are minimal, compared to effects of altitude and other factors related to altitude

Characteristics of Japan’s Commodities Index and its Correlation with Stock Index

The commodity indexes associated with Japan’s commodity-futures markets were formed in 2008 and publicized by the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and the Tokyo Grain Exchange. In this paper, I used these indexes to analyze the properties of Japan’s commodity futures as portfolio investments, and could confirm that they possess investment characteristics that differ from stocks, and that commodity investors can enjoy favorable “diversified investment” effects if leveraged skillfully.commodity future; commodity index; Japan

The Friedmann Universe and Compact Internal Spaces in Higher-Dimensional Gravity Theories

We consider gravity theories in $4+N$ dimensions which are governed by the Lagrangian written as an extended Gauss-Bonnet density. We can find a naturally generalized Einstein gravity where the maximal symmetric compactification leads to vanishing four-dimensional cosmological constant in the static limit. A later stage in the generalized Kaluza-Klein cosmology is also examined.Comment: 8 pages, no figur