A Thermoelectric Generator Replacing Radiator for Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

 We have proposed and developed a low temperature thermoelectric generator (TEG) using engine water coolant of light-duty vehicles. Experimental results from test vehicle, of which engine size is about 2.0 liters, show that fabricated prototype Thermoelectric Generator generates more than 75W for driving condition of 80 km/hour, and output power is about 28W during idle condition. The proposed TEG can replace conventional radiator without additional water pumps or mechanical devices except for basic components of legacy water cooling system of radiator

Learning Styles and Cultural Differences: A comparative study of cultural differences in Austrian and Mongolian Students

This study shows the relationship between the types of cultural differences and learning styles of Kolb's learning model. Although several cross-cultural studies on learning styles suggest that learning styles may differ from one culture to another, the question of which cultures are associated with which learning styles and abilities has been less explored. This study focuses on the empirical findings of comparative studies on past cross-cultural differences in learning styles and considers how the propositions generated by the theory tests may reflect their past empirical findings. This research shows that culture is associated with specific learning styles and abilities

A Contribution to the Bats Inhabiting Arid Steppe Habitats in Central Mongolia

Bats of the steppe habitat require particular attention in Mongolia because of increasingly frequent droughts and the looming specter of global warming which could have a devastating impact on their population. Especially the bats in arid steppe region lack of water resources. All bat species we trapped in Erdenesant, Tov aimag, were using hand dug wells as water source indicating the significance of water availability. Many wells have been dried out or polluted in Mongolia in recent years due to warming effect of climate change and artisanal mining activities, but the extent of their impacts on bat populations have to be determined

A Contribution to the Bats Inhabiting Arid Steppe Habitats in Central Mongolia

Bats of the steppe habitat require particular attention in Mongolia because of increasingly frequent droughts and the looming specter of global warming which could have a devastating impact on their population. Especially the bats in arid steppe region lack of water resources. All bat species we trapped in Erdenesant, Tov aimag, were using hand dug wells as water source indicating the significance of water availability. Many wells have been dried out or polluted in Mongolia in recent years due to warming effect of climate change and artisanal mining activities, but the extent of their impacts on bat populations have to be determined

Breeding and migration ecology of bar-headed goose Anser indicus and swan goose Anser cygnoides in Asia

Most waterfowl that breed in Mongolia, part of the semiarid northern region of East Asia, are long distant migrants. They depend on availability of lake, river, and wetland habitats on their breeding and wintering grounds and need suitable staging and stopover sites along their flight routes to complete their migration. Waterfowl in this region have developed important adaptations and strategies to ensure their survival and reproductive fitness across generations. I studied the ecology of two goose species endemic to this semiarid region, the bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) and swan goose (Anser cygnoides), to examine their use of highly-variable, wetland habitats. I studied the breeding biology of bar-headed geese across three summers (2009-2011) while conducting the first systematic nesting study in the semiarid Khangai Mountains region of west-central Mongolia. Bar-headed geese were found nesting on both islands and cliffs, but their daily nest survival was higher at cliff nests and ranged from 0.94 to 0.98 with average nest survival of 42.6% during the incubation period. Information-theoretic models indicated that nest survival decreased with nest age and varied annually. Waterfowl in this region may be limited by available nest sites, but disturbance and depredation also may play a critical role in their population dynamics. I also tracked the migration of both species via satellite telemetry from their breeding grounds to wintering grounds. Satellite tracking data revealed that swan geese migrated through the Yalu River Delta to a wintering area primarily restricted to Eastern China. In contrast, bar-headed geese had a much greater wintering area ranging from southern China to the southern tip of India. Recently, wintering grounds of both species have had significant land cover and land use changes related to global warming and human activities. For the first time, I was able to document unique and narrow migration corridors for both species that were related to landscape features. The migration corridor of bar-headed geese on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was restricted to one biogeographic biome, while swan geese moved across biomes in a loop migration, preferred stopover sites in natural landscapes, avoided areas of eastern China with large scale developments and high human densities, and wintered in the Yangtze River Basin. Migration of bar-headed geese was associated with vegetation green-up as indicated by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and geese strategically moved between areas with peak NDVI values extending from their wintering grounds in India, migration stopover areas on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and breeding grounds in Mongolia. The arrival of bar-headed geese at staging areas during the spring migration was correlated with a decline of green vegetation biomass on their wintering grounds in India and advancement of vegetation green-up in northern latitudes. During the autumn migration, snow cover and land surface temperature corresponded well with their southward movement. These results will have important implications to improve understanding of wild bird biology in this region as well as disease ecology -- waterfowl may contribute to gene flow of avian influenza viruses among different geographical populations of wild and domestic birds through their long distance migration. Species distributions are expected to shift in response to climate change, and swan and bar-headed geese likely will alter their distribution and migratory behavior in response but constrained by both natural habitat availability and human effects limiting their habitats

T Cell Receptor Expression Timing and Signal Strength in the Functional Differentiation of Invariant Natural Killer T Cells

The CD1d-restricted Vα14 invariant NKT (iNKT) cell lineage in mice (Vα24 in humans) represents an evolutionary conserved innate-like immune cell type that recognizes glycolipid antigens. Because of their unique ability to promptly secrete copious amounts of both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, typically produced by different T helper cell types, iNKT cells are implicated in the regulation of various pathologic conditions such as infection, allergy, autoimmune disease, maintenance of transplantation tolerance, and cancer. This striking multifaceted role in immune regulation is correlated with the presence of multiple functionally distinct iNKT cell subsets that can be distinguished based on the expression of characteristic surface markers and transcription factors. However, to date it, remains largely unresolved how this puzzling diversity of iNKT cell functional subsets emerges and what factors dictate the type of effector cell differentiation during the thymic differentiation considering the mono-specific nature of their T cell receptor (TCR) and their selecting molecule CD1d. Here, we summarize recent findings focusing on the role of TCR-mediated signaling and discuss possible mechanisms that may influence the sub-lineage choice of iNKT cells

Relationship of Human Personal Characteristics in the three Independent Stratification Systems

Objectives: We aimed to analyze theassociation between the biophysiological characteristics of body constitution and temperament type with Mongolian Traditional Medicine (MTM) constitution type to understand further and integrate the application of these stratification systems in clinical medicine. Methods: Body constitution type was classified using the body-mass index, temperament type was determined using personality test, and dominant MTM constitution type was determined in 287 active blood donors. Age, gender, and ABO blood groups were considered as additional biophysiological characteristics. The correlation between the biophysiological characteristics and the nature of their relationship was investigated using likelihood ratio and receiver operating characteristics analysis. Results: Obesity and body-mass index were related to aging, and donor’s age and Badgan expression rate were shown as a sensitive and specific classifier for obesity state. The relationship between Badgan dominant types of human constitutions practiced in Mongolian Traditional Medicine and melancholic temperament was established. Badgan expression was a sensitive and specific classifier for melancholic and phlegmatic temperament. Conclusions: Stratification of human subjects using the primary types of human constitutions practiced in Mongolian Traditional Medicine may be helpful in clinical research and application

GPR measurements to assess the Emeelt active fault's characteristics in a highly smooth topographic context, Mongolia

International audienceTo estimate the seismic hazard, the geometry (dip, length and orientation) and the dynamics (type of displacements and amplitude) of the faults in the area of interest need to be understood. In this paper, in addition to geomorphologic observations, we present the results of two ground penetrating radar (GPR) campaigns conducted in 2010 and 2011 along the Emeelt fault in the vicinity of Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia, located in an intracontinental region with low deformation rate that induces long recurrence time between large earthquakes. As the geomorphology induced by the fault activity has been highly smoothed by erosion processes since the last event, the fault location and geometry is difficult to determine precisely. However, by using GPR first, a non-destructive and fast investigation, the fault and the sedimentary deposits near the surface can be characterized and the results can be used for the choice of trench location. GPR was performed with a 50 MHz antenna over 2-D lines and with a 500 MHz antenna for pseudo-3-D surveys. The 500 MHz GPR profiles show a good consistency with the trench observations, dug next to the pseudo-3-D surveys. The 3-D 500 MHz GPR imaging of a palaeochannel crossed by the fault allowed us to estimate its lateral displacement to be about 2 m. This is consistent with a right lateral strike-slip displacement induced by an earthquake around magnitude 7 or several around magnitude 6. The 2-D 50 MHz profiles, recorded perpendicular to the fault, show a strong reflection dipping to the NE, which corresponds to the fault plane. Those profiles provided complementary information on the fault such as its location at shallow depth, its dip angle (from 23 • to 35 •) and define its lateral extension. Central Asia is known for its high level of seismic hazards, especially Mongolia, which has been one of the most seismically active intracontinental regions in the world with four large earthquakes (magnitude around 8) along its active faults in the western part of the country during the last century (Khilko et al. 1985). The deformation in Mongolia is located between compressive structures related to the collision and penetration of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate and extensive structures in the north of the country related with the Baykal rift (Tapponnier & Molnar 1979; Baljinnyam et al. 1993; Schlupp 1996; Bayasgalan & Jackson 1999). The seismic activity observed in the vicinity of Ulaanbaatar (UB), capital of Mongolia, is relatively low compared to the activity observed in western Mongolia. Nevertheless, since 2005, the seismic activity around UB not only has increased, but is also organized (see Fig. 1) at the west of UB along two perpendicular directions, which determine two active faults: Emeelt fault, discovered in 2008 (NNW-SSE direction, 25-km-long minimum and situated about 10 km W of UB) and Hustai fault (WSW–ENE direction, 80 km long, with its NE tip at less than 20 km west of UB); their length and morphology indicate that they can produce earthquakes of magnitude 6.5–7.5 (Schlupp et al. 2012). Most of the Mongolian population (1.2 million over 3 million) is concentrated at UB, which is the main political and economical centre of the country. Hence, the study of seismic hazard and the estimation of the probability of future destructive earthquakes are of primary importance for the country (Dugarmaa et al. 2006). Since the last large earthquake, the faults geomorphology has been highly smoothed by erosional processes and the exact location of the fault plane surface rupture is thus hidden within a several metre wide strip. The GPR method has been proven to give good and useful results to characterize faults by identifying offsets of radar reflections (Malik et al. 2007; Christie et al. 2009; Yalçiner et al. 2013) an

Phenology of Stipa krylovii Roshev. and Stipa tianschanica var. klemenzii Roshev., species dominating the vegetation communities of Hustai National Park

Includes bibliographical references.Presented at the Building resilience of Mongolian rangelands: a trans-disciplinary research conference held on June 9-10, 2015 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.Hustai National Park (HNP), which is one of the important parts of the Mongolian Special Protection Areas network, was founded in 1992 with the purpose of reintroducing the Takhi horse (Equus ferus przewalskii). HNP vegetation phenology research was first done in 1999 and since 2003 has been conducted each year between 24th of April and 24th of September, every 10 days. The purpose of this study is to identify, with the help of dominant species, the response of vegetation growing period to climate changes and to clarify features of species' phenology changes. As a result of the research we identified and recorded general trends of dominant vegetation phenology stages and how these changes respond to environmental factors (air temperature and precipitation). Comparison of the phenology stages of the two grasses dominant in the mountain steppe and steppe communities, Stipa tianschanica var. klemenzii Roshev. and Stipa krylovii Roshev. identified that the May and June precipitation amount had a significant effect on the beginning of the species' spring growing period (p<0.027). The results show that the vegetation growing period of the species has been increasing in the mountain steppe communities