Reproductive Ecology of Two Common Woody Species, \u3ci\u3eJuniperus sabina\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eArtemisia santolinifolia\u3c/i\u3e, in Mountain Steppes of Southern Mongolia

The present study describes the reproductive ecology of the prostrate shrub Juniperus sabina and the dwarf shrub Artemisia santolinifolia in dry mountain steppes of southern Mongolia. Whereas stands of the juniper are located at the drought limit of the genus’ distributional range, the genus Artemisia is typical of central Asian drylands. Both species produce large numbers of reproductive organs. For Juniperus sabina, however, only 2.5% of the morphologically intact seeds were found to be viable. Correspondingly, neither seedlings nor saplings were found in the field, and recruitment by reseeding happens at most rarely under the present climatic conditions. Instead, clonal growth is apparently the main mode of reproduction of the juniper. RAPD fingerprinting demonstrated that patches of J. sabina were constituted by a single genet. As mean current growth rates were between 1.8 and 6.8 cm/a, the largest patches found in the study area are estimated to have a minimum age of 769 to 2,941 years. Thus, seedling establishment might have taken place under more favorable climatic conditions as they occurred e.g. 1800 yr BP, whereas in dry phases such as today survival is mainly guaranteed by clonal growth. In contrast to that, more than 90% of the achenes of Artemisia santolinifolia were found viable. Achenes are not dormant, however, increasing temperatures positively affected time needed for germination (32° \u3e 20/10° \u3e8/4 °C). Germination is possible in both, light and darkness. The higher the osmotic stress the slower is germination and the fewer achenes remain viable. Therefore, it can be concluded that Artemisia santolinifolia seeds are well adapted to germinate under a wide variety of conditions, allowing the plant to colonize open sites rapidly and enabling it to invade further stands providing open space is available. Since both species grow in the same habitat, A. santolinifolia is a possible candidate for replacing J. sabina provided that the climatic conditions are not reversing again so that chances of sexual reproduction for juniper increase

A survey of butterfly diagrams for knots and links

A “butterfly diagram” is a representation of a knot as a kind of graph on the sphere. This generalization of Thurston’s construction of the Borromean rings was introduced by Hilden, Montesinos, Tejada, and Toro to study the bridge number of knots. In this paper, we study various properties of butterfly diagrams for knots and links. We prove basic some combinatorial results about butterflies and explore properties of butterflies for classes of links, especially torus links. The Wirtinger presentation for the knot group will be adapted to butterfly diagrams, and we translate the Reidemeister moves for knot diagrams into so-called “butterfly moves.” The main results of this paper are proofs for the classifications of 1- and 2-bridge links using butterflies. In particular, we prove that a link has bridge number equal to two if and only if it is a rational link. Our proof of this result requires the use of an object which we call a weave. We prove that a weave is equivalent to a rational tangle, and vice-versa. We conclude with a brief discussion of some open questions involving butterfly diagrams

Review of: Joe Thornton, Pandora\u27s Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy

Review of the book Pandora\u27s Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy by Joe Thornton, (M.I.T. Press 2000). Appendices, notes, references, index. LC 99-057011; ISBN 0-262-20124-0 [599 pp. $34.95 cloth, Five Cambridge Center, Cambridge MA 02142-1493]

Evaluating Appearance Differences of Color 3D Printed Objects

Color 3D printing is a relatively young technology with several exciting applications and challenges yet to be explored. One of those challenges is the effect that three dimensional surface geometries have on appearance. The appearance of 3D objects is complex and can be affected by the interaction between several visual appearance parameters such as color, gloss and surface texture. Since traditional printing is only 2D, several of these challenges have either been solved or never needed to be addressed. Complicating matters further, different color 3D printing technologies and materials come with their own inherent material appearance properties, necessitating the study of these appearance parameters on an individual case by case basis. Neural networks are powerful tools that are finding their way into just about every field imaginable, and the world of color science is no exception. A process described by previous researchers provides a method for picking out color sensitive neurons in a given layer of a convolutional neural network (CNN). Typically, CNNs are used for image classification but can also be used for image comparison. A siamese CNN was built and shown to be a good model for appearance differences using textured color patches designed to simulate the appearance of color 3D printed objects. A direct scaling psychophysical experiment was done to create an interval scale of perceptual appearance between color 3D printed objects printed at different angles. The objects used for this experiment were printed with an HP® Jet Fusion 580 color 3D printer. The objects exhibit print angle dependent surface textures inherent to the layered printing process itself. The preliminary siamese CNN showed that perceptual differences in the prints were likely to exist and could be modeled using a neural network. However, the results of the psychophysical experiment indicated that CIELAB color differences were extremely strong predictors of observer perceptions, even with variable surface texture in uncontrolled lighting conditions

Honor, Violence, and Recovery: The Stripping of Female Agency During the Partition of India

In 1943, the partition of India sent thousands of people on a perilous journey over geographical and religious lines. While this time period was marked by heartache for all, women were specifically affected, as societal ideals made them targets for brutality, kidnapping, and forced conversion. This paper analyzes the treatment of women during partition and effects of recovery efforts which took place after the year 1943. By utilizing firsthand accounts, interviews, and the works of other historians on this time period, it posits that recovery became an extension of maltreatment that reinforced the patriarchal ideals that made women victims to begin with

Homocysteine levels in preterm infants: is there an association with intraventricular hemorrhage? A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to characterize total homocysteine (tHcy) levels at birth in preterm and term infants and identify associations with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and other neonatal outcomes such as mortality, sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and thrombocytopenia. METHODS: 123 infants \u3c 32 weeks gestation admitted to our Level III nursery were enrolled. A group of 25 term infants were enrolled for comparison. Two blood spots collected on filter paper with admission blood drawing were analyzed by a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Statistical analysis included ANOVA, Spearman\u27s Rank Order Correlation and Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: The median tHcy was 2.75 micromol/L with an interquartile range of 1.34 - 4.96 micromol/L. There was no difference between preterm and term tHcy (median 2.76, IQR 1.25 - 4.8 micromol/L vs median 2.54, IQR 1.55 - 7.85 micromol/L, p = 0.07). There was no statistically significant difference in tHcy in 31 preterm infants with IVH compared to infants without IVH (median 1.96, IQR 1.09 - 4.35 micromol/L vs median 2.96, IQR 1.51 - 4.84 micromol/L, p = 0.43). There was also no statistically significant difference in tHcy in 7 infants with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) compared to infants without PVL (median 1.55, IQR 0.25 - 3.45 micromol/L vs median 2.85, IQR 1.34 - 4.82 micromol/L, p = 0.07). Male infants had lower tHcy compared to female; prenatal steroids were associated with a higher tHcy. CONCLUSION: In our population of preterm infants, there is no association between IVH and tHcy. Male gender, prenatal steroids and preeclampsia were associated with differences in tHcy levels

Reallabore. Kurzzeitiger Trend oder innovatives Instrument zur resilienten Stadtentwicklung?

Der Beitrag stellt die Hintergründe und Ziele der Reallaborforschung vor und erläutert die verschiedenen Handlungsebenen und Herausforderungen dieses Formats. Zum Abschluss widmen sich die AutorInnen dem Resilienztest und setzen diesen in Bezug zum Reallaboransatz