Spuler, Bertold

Spuler, Bertold (b. Karlsruhe, Germany, 5 December 1911; d. Hamburg, 6 March 1990), scholar of East European history and Oriental studies. Among his many publications are important works on the history of the Iranian lands from the 7th century CE onwards

Геологическое строение и геохимические особенности стратифицированных отложений урочища озера Песчаное в приустьевой части р. Зея

Объектом исследования являются донные органо-минеральные отложения урочища озера Песчаное в приустьевой части реки Зея. В процессе исследования проводились методы радиоуглеродного датирования, палинологического, рентгенофазового и минералогического анализов, а также атомно-эмиссионный и масс-спектральный методы. В результате исследования получена геологическая, палеогеографическая и палеоклиматическая информация, которая позволяет проследить изменения природной среды в позднем голоцене на юге Дальнего Востока для понимания взаимосвязи между геохимическим составом отложений озер, бассейном водосбора и окружающей средой. Область применения: полученные результаты могут использоваться при дальнейшем изучении озера Песчаное, а также служить фоном для болотно-озерных отложений данного района.The object of the study is the bottom organo-mineral deposits of the tract of Peschanoe Lake in the near-mouth part of the Zeya River. In the process of research methods of radiocarbon dating, palynological, X-ray phase and mineralogical analyzes, as well as atomic-emission and mass-spectral methods were conducted. As a result of the study, geological, paleogeographic and paleoclimatic information was obtained that allows tracing the changes in the natural environment in the late Holocene in the south of the Far East to understand the relationship between the geochemical composition of lakes, the catchment basin and the environment. Scope: the results obtained can be used in further study of the Peschanoe Lake, and also serve as a backdrop for the marsh-lake sediments of this region

The scleractinian <i>Agaricia undata</i> as a new host for the coral-gall crab <i>Opecarcinus hypostegus</i> at Bonaire, southern Caribbean

The Caribbean scleractinian reef coral Agaricia undata (Agariciidae) is recorded for the first time as a host of the coral-gall crab Opecarcinus hypostegus (Cryptochiridae). The identity of the crab was confirmed with the help of DNA barcoding. The association has been documented with photographs taken in situ at 25 m depth and in the laboratory. The predominantly mesophotic depth range of the host species suggests this association to be present also at greater depths. With this record, all seven Agaricia species are now listed as gall-crab hosts, together with the agariciid Helioseris cucullata. Within the phylogeny of Agariciidae, Helioseris is not closely related to Agaricia. Therefore, the association between Caribbean agariciids and their gall-crab symbionts may either have originated early in their shared evolutionary history or later as a result of host range expansion. New information on coral-associated fauna, such as what is presented here, leads to a better insight on the diversity, evolution, and ecology of coral reef biota, particularly in the Caribbean, where cryptochirids have rarely been studied.</p

Potential benefits of crawl position for prone radiation therapy in breast cancer

Purpose: To investigate crawl position with the arm at the treated side alongside the body and at the opposite side above the head for prone treatment in patients requiring breast and regional lymph node irradiation. Methods: Patient support devices for crawl position were built for CT simulation and treatment. An asymmetric fork design resulted from an iterative process of prototype construction and testing. The fork's large horn supports the hemi-thorax, shoulder, and elevated arm at the nontreated side and the head. The short, narrow horn supports the arm at the treated side. Between both horns, the treated breast and its regional lymph nodes are exposed. Endpoints were pain, comfort, set-up precision, beam access to the breast and lymph nodes, and plan dose metrics. Pain and comfort were tested by volunteers (n = 9); set-up precision, beam access, and plan dose metrics were tested by means of a patient study (n = 10). The AIOTM (Orfit, Wijnegem, Belgium) prone breastboard (AIOTM) was used as a reference regarding comfort and set-up precision. Results: Pain at the sternum, the ipsilateral shoulder, upper arm, and neck was lower in crawl position than with bilateral arm elevation on AIOTM. Comfort and setup precision were better on the crawl prototype than on AIOTM. In crawl position, beam directions in the coronal and near-sagittal planes have access to the breast or regional lymph nodes without traversing device components. Plan comparison between supine and crawl positions showed better dose homogeneity for the breast and lymph node targets and dose reductions to all organs at risk for crawl position. Conclusions: Radiation therapy for breast and regional lymph nodes in crawl position is feasible. Good comfort and set-up precision were demonstrated. Planning results support the hypothesis that breast and regional lymph nodes can be treated in crawl position with less dose to organs at risk and equal or better dose distribution in the target volumes than in supine position. The crawl technique is a candidate methodology for further investigation for patients requiring breast and regional lymph node irradiation

Nocturnal predation of christmas tree worms by a batwing coral crab at Bonaire (Southern Caribbean)

Christmas tree worms (Serpulidae: Spirobranchus) occur in shallow parts of coral reefs, where they live as associates of a large number of stony coral species [...

Relations in biomedical ontologies

To enhance the treatment of relations in biomedical ontologies we advance a methodology for providing consistent and unambiguous formal definitions of the relational expressions used in such ontologies in a way designed to assist developers and users in avoiding errors in coding and annotation. The resulting Relation Ontology can promote interoperability of ontologies and support new types of automated reasoning about the spatial and temporal dimensions of biological and medical phenomena

Knowledge-Level Reflection

This paper presents an overview of the REFLECT project. It defines the notion of knowledge level reflection that has been central to the project, it compares this notion with existing approaches to reflection in related fields, and investigates some of the consequences of the concept of knowledge level reflection: what is a general architecture for knowledge level reflection, how to model the object component in such an architecture, what is the nature of reflective theories, how can we design such architectures, and what are the results of our actual experiments with such systems