FINSTER : FORMAC interactive system for terminals

FINSTER is a time-shared version of FORMAC and was developed to provide symbolic rnathernatical cornputations under the control of the user. It is an interactive system on a statement-by-staternent basis, i. e. the statements are executed immediately as they are typed in by the user. Although it is not possible in FINSTER to establish various paths of program flow in the stored prograrn sense, there is a loop statement to facilitate the handling of vector operations. FINSTER is based on OS/360-PL/l-FORMAC [1] , but we reduced the language to its pure FORMAC components: all variables occurring in FINSTER statements are FORMAC variables. Thus the systern can be used without knowledge in PL/l prograrnming. A prototype of FINSTER is running on the IBM/360-75 computer at the KFAJülich since April 1970. In a partition of 160 K bytes under OS-MFT it is serving four IBM-2260 display units. Other interactive FORMAC systems have been developed by Lipson and Tobey [2] and Stone [3]. Our thanks are due to Mr. Klaus Klingen who has inspected parts of the request handler with great care and in doing so has shortened the program considerably

Multifunctionality of floodplain landscapes : Relating management options to ecosystem services

The concept of green infrastructure has been recently taken up by the European Commission for ensuring the provision of ecosystem services (ESS). It aims at the supply of multiple ESS in a given landscape, however, the effects of a full suite of management options on multiple ESS and landscape multifunctionality have rarely been assessed. In this paper we use European floodplain landscapes as example to develop an expert based qualitative conceptual model for the assessment of impacts of landscape scale interventions on multifunctionality. European floodplain landscapes are particularly useful for such approach as they originally provided a high variety and quantity of ESS that has declined due to the strong human impact these landscapes have experienced. We provide an overview of the effects of floodplain management options on landscape multifunctionality by assessing the effects of 38 floodplain management interventions on 21 relevant ESS, as well as on overall ESS supply. We found that restoration and rehabilitation consistently increased the multifunctionality of the landscape by enhancing supply of provisioning, regulation/maintenance, and cultural services. In contrast, conventional technical regulation measures and interventions related to extraction, infrastructure and intensive land use cause decrease in multifunctionality and negative effects for the supply of all three aspects of ESS. The overview of the effects of interventions shall provide guidance for decision makers at multiple governance levels. The presented conceptual model could be effectively applied for other landscapes that have potential for a supply of a high diversity of ESS. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

New national and regional bryophyte records, 64

International audienc

Assessment of different screw augmentation techniques and screw designs in osteoporotic spines

This is an experimental study on human cadaver spines. The objective of this study is to compare the pullout forces between three screw augmentation methods and two different screw designs. Surgical interventions of patients with osteoporosis increase following the epidemiological development. Biomechanically the pedicle provides the strongest screw fixation in healthy bone, whereas in osteoporosis all areas of the vertebra are affected by the disease. This explains the high screw failure rates in those patients. Therefore PMMA augmentation of screws is often mandatory. This study involved investigation of the pullout forces of augmented transpedicular screws in five human lumbar spines (L1–L4). Each spine was treated with four different methods: non-augmented unperforated (solid) screw, perforated screw with vertebroplasty augmentation, solid screw with vertebroplasty augmentation and solid screw with balloon kyphoplasty augmentation. Screws were augmented with Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). The pullout forces were measured for each treatment with an Instron testing device. The bone mineral density was measured for each vertebra with Micro-CT. The statistical analysis was performed with a two-sided independent student t test. Forty screws (10 per group and level) were inserted. The vertebroplasty-augmented screws showed a significant higher pullout force (mean 918.5 N, P = 0.001) than control (mean 51 N), the balloon kyphoplasty group did not improve the pullout force significantly (mean 781 N, P > 0.05). However, leakage occurred in some cases treated with perforated screws. All spines showed osteoporosis on Micro-CT. Vertebroplasty-augmented screws, augmentation of perforated screws and balloon kyphoplasty augmented screws show higher pullout resistance than non-augmented screws. Significant higher pullout forces were only reached in the vertebroplasty augmented vertebra. The perforated screw design led to epidural leakage due to the position of the perforation in the screw. The position of the most proximal perforation is critical, depending on screw design and proper insertion depth. Nevertheless, using a properly designed perforated screw will facilitate augmentation and instrumentation in osteoporotic spines

New national and regional bryophyte records, 66

This publication represent the first report of Sarmentypnum trichophyllum for Italy and the second for central and southern Europe. The present report of S. trichophyllum in Italy is an important confirmation and extension of range southwards