Notes on phytosociology of Juniperus excelsa in Macedonia (southern Balkan Peninsula)

Juniperus excelsa is an East Mediterranean species found also in marginal, sub-mediterranean regions of the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. It prefers shallow soils in the warmest habitats of the zone of thermophilous deciduous forests. In the past the rank of alliance and the name of Juniperion excelsae-foetidissimae have been suggested for the vegetation dominated by Juniperus excelsa in the Balkan Peninsula. In this paper we present the valid description of the alliance in accordance with the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature. The validation of the Juniperion excelsae-foetidissimae required description of a new association - the Querco trojanae-Juniperetum excelsae. The Juniperion excelsae-foetidissimae is classified within the order of Quercetalia pubescentis Klika 1933 (the Quercetea pubescentis Doing-Kraft ex Scamoni et Passarge 1959)

Consanguineous marriages in Denizli, Turkey.

For the study 1000 families were interviewed during 1996 in the city of Denizli, which is situated in Western Anatolia and has a population of 79211 families. The overall rate of consanguinity was 11.7%, with a mean inbreeding coefficient of 0.00873. The principal type of consanguineous marriage recorded was between first cousins, which accounted for 49.6% of all unions. For both sexes, a significant negative association was observed between consanguinity and mean age at marriage and level of education

Spectroscopic characterization of Al2O3-Ni selective absorbers for solar collectors

Optical spectroscopy of electrochemically prepared Ni-pigmented aluminum oxide selective absorbers have been determined in the 200-20 000 nm range. It was found that samples anodized under the same conditions and pigmented using nickel acetate resulted in better thermal emittance values when compared with nickel sulfate although both have comparable solar absorbance values. Electron spectroscopic investigation revealed that only a small fraction of Ni is present on the surface with an oxidation state of ≥ + 2. The O/Al ratio determined by XPS is larger than 1.5. This information together with the measured Al 2p Auger parameter indicated that the surfaces contain additional OH groups which was also confirmed by the presence of a broad hyrogen-bonded band in the region 3000-3400 cm-1 observed in the reflection-absorption IR spectra of these samples. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved