A problematic zygopleuroid gastropod Acanthostrophia revisited

SEM examination of the type series of Acathostrophia acanthica CONTI & FISCHER, 1984 from Middle Jurassic of Italy has shown that this gastropod most likely belongs to the family Protorculidae as previously suggested by NÜTZEL (1998). It is also similar to some Jurassic species of Polygyrinidae, which might also be related to Protorculidae. The supposition of KAIM et al. (2008) that Acanthostrophia is an early member of Abyssochrysidae could not be confirmed

A bajocian (Middle jurassic) marine gastropod assemblage from the badamu formation, Central Iran

Nine species of gastropods are reported from the Bajocian (Middle Jurassic) part of the Badamu Formation of Central Iran. This is the first report of a gastropod assemblage of this age from the shelves of the Kimmerian Continent. Seven species belong to the Vetigastropoda and two to the Caenogastropoda. Two new species, the pleurotomariid Bathrotomaria iranica sp. nov. and the eucyclid Eucycloidea badamuensis sp. nov., are described. The remaining species are left in open nomenclature owing to poor preservation. The composition of the gastropod association is strongly reminiscent of other Tethyan gastropod faunas, in particular those from the southern shores of the Tethys (India and Arabia) and from southern Europe. This indicates a relatively uniform distribution of gastropod faunas along the Middle Jurassic shores of the western Tethys.Fil: Ferrari, Silvia Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico de Geología y Paleontología.; ArgentinaFil: Binazadeh, Tayyeb. Shahid Bahonar University; IránFil: Kaim, Andrzej. Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences; Poloni

Conservation Prioritization Problems and their Shadow Prices

Systematic conservation planning is an essential part of biodiversity preservation

The US role in the Madrid Peace Process: a conceptual approach

The Madrid Peace Process has been dominated since its beginning in October 1991 by the U.S. as the most important extraregional power. Although Russia is the second official co-sponsor beside the US, it was the United States, who has fostered the Arab-Israeli negotiations substantially by preparing a framework for the meeting of the parties or by suggesting bridging proposals on their own. Moreover it has played a crucial role in implementing the reached accords, either by providing the necessary financial means or by offering political and security-related guarantees. Therefore it is the only player in the international system, which has the political power and the necessary capacities to urge the regional parties to compromises and to enhance security in the region. Moreover it offers security not just to Israel, but also to the oil producing, "conservative" monarchies in the Arab-Persian Gulf, mainly Saudi-Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. (Párrafo extraído del texto a modo de resumen)Mesa 2: Estados Unidos y el conflicto árabe-israelíInstituto de Relaciones Internacionales (IRI

Theoretical Study of Laser Beam Quality and Pulse Shaping by Volume Bragg Gratings

The theory of stretching and compressing of short light pulses by the chirped volume Bragg gratings (CBG) is reviewed based on spectral decomposition of short pulses and on the wavelength-dependent coupled wave equations. The analytic theory of diffraction efficiency of a CBG with constant chirp and approximate theory of time delay dispersion are presented. Based on those, we performed comparison of the approximate analytic results with the exact numeric coupled-wave modeling. We also study theoretically various definitions of laser beam width in a given cross-section. Quality of the beam is characterized by the dimensionless beam propagation products (?x???_x)?? , which are different for each of the 21 definitions. We study six particular beams and introduce an axially-symmetric self-MFT (mathematical Fourier transform) function, which may be useful for the description of diffraction-quality beams. Furthermore, we discuss various saturation curves and their influence on the amplitudes of recorded gratings. Special attention is given to multiplexed volume Bragg gratings (VBG) aimed at recording of several gratings in the same volume. The best shape of a saturation curve for production of the strongest gratings is found to be the threshold-type curve. Both one-photon and two-photon absorption mechanism of recording are investigated. Finally, by means of the simulation software we investigate forced airflow cooling of a VBG heated by a laser beam. Two combinations of a setup are considered, and a number of temperature distributions and thermal deformations are obtained for different rates of airflows. Simulation results are compared to the experimental data, and show good mutual agreement

Reforming NATO's partnerships

Since 1994, NATO has created partnerships as an institutional framework for its relations with countries that cannot or do not want to become Alliance members. In the past 20 years, the circle of countries involved has become ever larger, the associated agenda ever more heterogeneous, and the goals pursued by NATO ever more diverse. The institutional proliferation of partnerships contrasts increasingly with what is potentially expected of them. The existing formats are now overdue for an effectiveness check so that they can be prioritised politically. (author's abstract

The US role in the Madrid Peace Process: a conceptual approach

The Madrid Peace Process has been dominated since its beginning in October 1991 by the U.S. as the most important extraregional power. Although Russia is the second official co-sponsor beside the US, it was the United States, who has fostered the Arab-Israeli negotiations substantially by preparing a framework for the meeting of the parties or by suggesting bridging proposals on their own. Moreover it has played a crucial role in implementing the reached accords, either by providing the necessary financial means or by offering political and security-related guarantees. Therefore it is the only player in the international system, which has the political power and the necessary capacities to urge the regional parties to compromises and to enhance security in the region. Moreover it offers security not just to Israel, but also to the oil producing, "conservative" monarchies in the Arab-Persian Gulf, mainly Saudi-Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. (Párrafo extraído del texto a modo de resumen)Mesa 2: Estados Unidos y el conflicto árabe-israelíInstituto de Relaciones Internacionales (IRI