Tuning the phase transition in transition-metal-based magnetocaloric compounds

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Economic Transition and Natural Resource Management in East and Southeast Asia

Economic and institutional reforms in East and Southeast Asia have caused impressive economic growth and improved the livelihood of millions of people. In several regions, however, this growth has been obtained at the expense of land quality or to the detriment of other natural resources. As a consequence, the sustainability of future growth is threatened. Efforts aimed at promoting sustainable resource use in rural East and Southeast Asia are being and will be confronted with and influenced by two major changes. First, the continuous transition towards a market-oriented economy implies that massive, centralized state regulation will decrease and that economic, decentralized and informal resource management institutions are likely to increase in importance. Second, domestic economic liberalization, international trade liberalization and globalization will greatly affect domestic agricultural prices and, hence, the use of natural resources. This volume contains a selection of papers that were presented at the Asia-Link RECREATE seminar at the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in June 2007 and the international Asia-Link RECREATE conference at Nanjing Agriculture University, China, in October 2008. The seminar, the conference and the publication of this book are part of Asia-Link's "Restructuring Higher Education in Resource and Environmental Economics" project activities, which have been funded by the European Union under its Asia-Link programme. The selected papers provide an overview, albeit not a complete one, regarding the environmental and natural resource problems Southeast Asian countries are facing from an economic perspective. The papers are written in such a way so that they can serve as supporting case study material for classes in environmental and natural resource economics at the graduate level. The editors also expect that environmental and natural resource economists with an interest in Southeast Asia will find the various chapters of interest as well as stimulating for their own research

Out-of-plane exchange bias and magnetic anisotropy in MnPd/Co multilayers

10.1016/j.jmmm.2008.07.007Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials320233334-3340JMMM

Chemical investigationof the fruit peel oil of Citrus medica L. var. sarcodactylis (Noot.) Swingle from Vietnam

The essential oils obtained by steam distillation of the fruit peels of two different chemotypes of Citrus medica L. var. sarcodactylis (Noot.) Swingle from Vietnamese origin were subjected to GC and GC/MS analyses. More than 40 compounds were identified, accounting for almost 99% of the oils. The major oil constituents of one chemotype were found to be limonene (48.4%)and p-cymene (33.7%), while the oil oft he other chemotype contained predominantly limonene (55.5%) and y-terpinene (22.5%)

2-Aryl- and 2-amido-benzothiazoles as multifunctional vasodilators on rat artery preparations

The neuroprotective agent riluzole [2-amino-6-(trifluoromethoxy)benzothiazole] has been shown to antagonize neuronal high-voltage activated Ca(2+) currents. In the search for novel scaffolds leading to potential antihypertensive agents, a series of 2-aryl- and 2-amido-benzothiazoles (HUP) were assessed for their vasorelaxing property on rat aorta rings and for their L-type Ba(2+) currents [I(Ba(L))] blocking activity on single myocytes isolated from the rat tail artery. HUP5 and HUP30, the most potent of the series, inhibited phenylephrine-induced contraction with IC₅₀ values in the range 3-6 µM. The presence of endothelium did not modify their spasmolytic activity. Both HUP5 and HUP30 increased tissue levels of cGMP and shifted to the left the concentration-response curve to sodium nitroprusside. In rings precontracted by phenylephrine, tetraethylammonium or 1H-[1,2,4] oxadiazolo [4,3-a] quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ) shifted to the right the concentration-relaxation curves of HUP5 and HUP30. The antispasmodic effect of HUP5 and HUP30 was more marked on rings stimulated with 25/30 mM than with 60 mM K(+). HUP5 and HUP30 antagonized both extracellular Ca(2+) influx and Ca(2+) mobilization from intracellular stores in response to phenylephrine: this effect was not modified by the presence of ODQ. I(Ba(L)) was partly inhibited by HUP5 and blocked by HUP30 in a concentration-dependent as well as ODQ-independent manner. In conclusion, HUP5 and HUP30 are vasorelaxing agents that stimulate soluble guanylyl cyclase, activate K(+) channels, and block extracellular Ca(2+) influx. The present benzothiazole derivatives form a novel class of multifunctional vasodilators which may give rise to effective antihypertensive agents

Constituents of the leaf and flower oils of Agastache rugosa (Fisch. et Mey) O. Kuntze from Vietnam

The volatile leaf and flower oils from Agastache rugosa (Fisch. et Mey) O. Kuntze were analyzed by GC and GC/MS and found to contain more than 40 mono- and sesquiterpenes, of which about 30 constituents have been identified. The oils are characterized by a high proportion of methyl chavicol (92.0% and 75.9% in the leaf and flower oils, respectively