Distribution and Cconnection to other Plant-Communities of Genista radiata (L.) Scop in the South Tyrol (Italy)

Es werden die Genista radiata-Bestände an der Mendel in Südtirol (Italien) beschrieben und ihr Gesellschaftsanschluß diskutiert. Das Genisto-Festucetum alpestris Peer 83 besidelt steile südexponierte Kalkhänge der hochmontanen und subalpinen Stufe und ersetzt z.T. den Zwergstrauchgürtel mit Pinus mugo. Ähnlich zusammengesetzt ist das Genisto-Festucetum alpestris pinetosum Peer 83, das in den ¡lockeren Erika-Kiefernwäldern auftritt und bis in die tiefmontane Stufe hinunterreicht. Keinerlei syntaxonomische Bedeutung besitzt Genista radiata in den thermophilen Buschwaldgesellschaften, in denen die Pflanze lediglich eine Variante zum Orno-Ostryetum seslerietosum Peer 81 darstellt und speziell in der Saumzone anzutreffen ist. Auch in den Lärchenwiesen der Kammlagen kommt Genista radiata nur sporadisch vor. Sie ist hier mit dem Festucetum nigrescentis laricetosum subass. prov. verzahnt.Istražene su vegetacijske sastojine vrste Genista radiata u južnom Tirolu i razmatrana njihova fitocenološka pripadnost. Asocijacija Genisto-Festucetum alpestris Peer 83 nastava strme, južne vapnenačke obronke visokobrdskog i subalpskog pojasa. Subasocijacija Genisto-Festucetum alpestris pinetosum Peer 83 dolazi u rijetkim borovim šumama s crnjušom i spušta se do u niži brdski pojas. Termofilne niske šume, u kojima Genista radiata nema posebno sintaksonomsko značenje, označene su samo kao varijanta zajednice Orno-Ostryetum seslerietosum Peer 81. Genista radiata dolazi također na travnjacima s arišem, ali samo sporadično i to u mješavini sa zajednicom Festucetum nigrescentis laricetosnm subass. prov.The Genista radiata-communities of the Mendel in the South Tyrol (Italy) are described and their connection to other plant-communities is discussed. Genisto-Festucetum alpestris Peer 83 settles on steep, south- exposed colcareous slopes of high-mountain and subalpine altitudes and replaces particularly the dwarf-shrub-belt with Firms mugo. Similar contents aire found in Genisto-F estucetum alpestris pinetasum Peer 83, which occurs in undensed Erico-Pinetum-communities and reaches down to the low-mountain-altitude. In the thermophilic bush-communities, in which Genista radiata is found only as a variant of Orneto-Ostryetum seslerie- tosum (Peer 81), the plant has no syntaxonomic importance. Genista radiata especially is found in the edge-zone. In the grassland of the larch- communities of the ridges Genista radiata appears only sporadically. Here the plant appeals in Festucetum nigrescentis laricetosum subass. prov

Animal-borne telemetry: An integral component of the ocean observing toolkit

Animal telemetry is a powerful tool for observing marine animals and the physical environments that they inhabit, from coastal and continental shelf ecosystems to polar seas and open oceans. Satellite-linked biologgers and networks of acoustic receivers allow animals to be reliably monitored over scales of tens of meters to thousands of kilometers, giving insight into their habitat use, home range size, the phenology of migratory patterns and the biotic and abiotic factors that drive their distributions. Furthermore, physical environmental variables can be collected using animals as autonomous sampling platforms, increasing spatial and temporal coverage of global oceanographic observation systems. The use of animal telemetry, therefore, has the capacity to provide measures from a suite of essential ocean variables (EOVs) for improved monitoring of Earth's oceans. Here we outline the design features of animal telemetry systems, describe current applications and their benefits and challenges, and discuss future directions. We describe new analytical techniques that improve our ability to not only quantify animal movements but to also provide a powerful framework for comparative studies across taxa. We discuss the application of animal telemetry and its capacity to collect biotic and abiotic data, how the data collected can be incorporated into ocean observing systems, and the role these data can play in improved ocean management

Iron Matrix Transformations and Mechanical Properties of Fe-25Cr-C-B Eutectic Cast Alloys

Iron matrix transformation behavior and high temperature strength of Fe-25mass%Cr-C-B cast alloys were investigated using thermal expansion method and compressive test, respectively. Five kinds of eutectic alloys were destabilized at temperatures of 1173 K, 1273 K and 1373 K for 1800 and 18000 seconds, followed with air cooling. Compressive test was made on Fe-25Cr-0C-2.2B, Fe-25Cr-2.2C-1.0B and Fe-25Cr-3.5C-0B eutectic alloys at temperatures up to 1073 K. Result of the work shows that Ms temperature rises with the decrease in destabilization temperature, but the hardness becomes larger with the increase in destabilization temperatures, for the alloys with boron content. Compressive strength of all as-cast alloys was above 2000 MPa at room temperature and above 100 MPa even at 1073 K. The true stress-true strain curves characteristics depended on the chemical composition of the alloys. The effect of destabilization heat treatment almost disappears at the temperatures above 873 K in every alloys

Some Behaviors and Characteristicsof Decarburized Layer in Spheroidal Graphite Cast Iron

Spheroidal graphite cast irons are widely used for auto parts because they have large degrees of freedom in shape and are inexpensive. When they are welded, however, they show serious drawback of crack generation due to excess carbon at thehardened region of heat-affected zone. We have studied on decarburized spheroidal graphite cast iron which has a possibility of welding because of graphite free in the surface region. In the present study, some characteristics of the decarburized layer in the spheroidal graphite cast iron were investigated. The results obtained are as follows. Growth of decarburized layer is controlled by diffusion of carbon atoms toward the surface region in the iron during the heat-treatment and there is a critical temperature of 930 K for the decarburization, below which decarburization does not occur. When the area ratios of the decarburized layer to whole sectional area in the rod-shaped tensile test specimen was defined to be a ratio of decarburized layer, the tensile strength of the specimen scarcely influenced by the ratio of decarburized layer. However, when the overdecarburization was processed, the tensile strength showed a tendency to decrease. Therefore, it should be noted in practical use of the decarburized spheroidal graphite cast iron that the excessive decarburization makes the strength of thin parts of the iron to decrease

Protection of Liver Functions and Improvement of Kidney Functions by Twelve Weeks Consumption of Cuban Policosanol (Raydel^®) with a Decrease of Glycated Hemoglobin and Blood Pressure from a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, and Double-Blinded Study with Healthy and Middle-Aged Japanese Participants

Policosanol consumption has been associated with treating blood pressure and dyslipidemia by increasing the level of high-density lipoproteins-cholesterol (HDL-C) and HDL functionality. Although policosanol supplementation also ameliorated liver function in animal models, it has not been reported in a human clinical study, particularly with a 20 mg doage of policosanol. In the current study, twelve-week consumption of Cuban policosanol (Raydel®) significantly enhanced the hepatic functions, showing remarkable decreases in hepatic enzymes, blood urea nitrogen, and glycated hemoglobin. From the human trial with Japanese participants, the policosanol group (n = 26, male 13/female 13) showed a remarkable decrease in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) from baseline up to 21% (p = 0.041) and 8.7% (p = 0.017), respectively. In contrast, the placebo group (n = 26, male 13/female 13) showed almost no change or slight elevation. The policosanol group showed a 16% decrease in γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GTP) at week 12 from the baseline (p = 0.015), while the placebo group showed a 1.2% increase. The policosanol group exhibited significantly lower serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels at week 8 (p = 0.012), week 12 (p = 0.012), and after 4-weeks (p = 0.006) compared to those of the placebo group. After 12 weeks of policosanol consumption, the ferric ion reduction ability and paraoxonase of serum were elevated by 37% (p p = 0.004) higher than week 0, while placebo consumption showed no notable changes. Interestingly, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in serum was lowered significantly in the policosanol group 4 weeks after consumption, which was approximately 2.1% (p = 0.004) lower than the placebo group. In addition, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and uric acid levels were significantly lower in the policosanol group after 4 weeks: 14% lower (p = 0.002) and 4% lower (p = 0.048) than those of the placebo group, respectively. Repeated measures of ANOVA showed that the policosanol group had remarkable decreases in AST (p = 0.041), ALT (p = 0.008), γ-GTP (p = 0.016), ALP (p = 0.003), HbA1c (p = 0.010), BUN (p = 0.030), and SBP (p = 0.011) from the changes in the placebo group in point of time and group interaction. In conclusion, 12 weeks of 20 mg consumption of policosanol significantly enhanced hepatic protection by lowering the serum AST, ALT, ALP, and γ-GTP via a decrease in glycated hemoglobin, uric acid, and BUN with an elevation of serum antioxidant abilities. These results suggest that improvements in blood pressure by consumption of 20 mg of policosanol (Raydel®) were accompanied by protection of liver function and enhanced kidney function

Surface Hardening of Some Cast Irons with Inserted Hard Alloy Particles

In this paper, two experiments for locally hard facing of cast iron and cast steel will be presented. In the case of locally hard faced spheroidal graphite cast iron with hard alloy briquettes, the inserted layer as formed with penetration of the molten cast iron among tungsten carbide (henceforth, it is described as WC) particles in the hard alloy briquette. The base metal of inserted layer showed a microstructure of gray cast iron due to a hindrance to spheroidalization caused by a reaction the molten cast iron to the elements of W and Co in the hard alloy. The hardness of mother spheroidal graphite cast iron was about Vickers hardness (henceforth, it is described as HV) 200 while the hardness of the inserted layer ranged from HV600 to HV1600. In the case of locally hard faced cast steel, the inserted layer was also formed with similar process to that of the spheroidal graphite cast iron, while intermediate phases with very hard complex carbide were formed at the bonding region between the inserted layer and the base metal. The hardness of mother cast steel was about HV300, while the hardness of the inserted layer ranged from HV800 to HV1400. Especially, the intermediate layer with complex carbide showed the highest hardness of HV1800. Therefore, the inserted methods with hard alloy particles are considered to be a very effective one for locally hard facing of cast iron and cast steel