Newly recorded species of the genus Isohypsibius (Tardigrada;Hypsibiidae) from China

This paper reports two newly recorded species, lsohypsibius lunulatus Iharos, 1966 and lsohypsibiusprosostomus Thulin, 1928, of the genus lsohypsibius （Tardigrada; Hypsibiidae） from China. The specimens of lsohysibius lunulatus were collected from Taibai Mt （34°18′N, 107°42′E） at 2,500 m a.s.1, and those oflsohypsibius prosostomus from Taibai Mt （34°10′N, 107°35′E） at 2,000 m above sea level. All specimens are deposited at the College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, China. A key to the Chinese species of lsohypsibius was also given.

Measurement assessment of forest benefit in reducing flood disaster

Based on the analysis of forest inner mechanism, forest benefit in re ducing flood disaster is defined. Through the characteristic analysis of forest benefit in reducing flood disaster, it is suggested that it is impossible to ado pt the microanalysis method for studying the forest benefit in reducing flood, t he macro analysis is the only method to be adopted. With the special case of dis aster flooding of Changjiang River happened in 1998, the forest benefit in reduc ing flood disaster was scientifically assessed. The estimated results of forest benefit in reducing flood shows that forest vegetation establishment is the radi cal way to control flood, but it only equals to 5 percent of the total benefits of water conservancy facilities.

An economic and efficient method for further purification of crude DNA extracted from forest soils

To obtain pure DNA directly from some complex forest soils are still very difficulty at present,though many methods even commercial kits have been attempted.This paper reports an economic and efficient method for further purifying crude DNA extracted from forest soils with two steps.First,the crude DNA was dissolved using the extraction buffer,which removed the debris by chloroform-isoamyl alcohol,and then reprecipitated the DNA by isopropanol;second,the recovered DNA was further purified with silica spin column.Results show that 82-91% of the humic acids was removed by step one.The remaining humic acids could be completely effaced through the second step.The recovered DNA following this protocol was quite pure and ready for sensitive conventional PCR reactions.This is an economic,efficient,and timesaving method.Moreover,crude DNA extracted by other methods can be also further purified with this new way.

也说“以人为本”

以人为本眼下时髦,不管什么事儿,一旦能绕到"以人为本"上,好像霸去了"天理",博得了称道,如果有理不会往"以人为本"上靠,这"理"就像少了"王"字边,理变成"里"了。就说《杂文报》1179期吴友兰先生的大作《置疑"撞"出来的安全》一文吧,作者对沈阳市出台的新交通规则中关于"行人违章,出了交通事故,司机不负责任"这一条接受不了。置疑之一是交通管理应优先照顾谁的利益?这种置疑令我这个"法盲"犯了糊涂,既然吴先生一再强调的是"以人为本",那么就不该再讲"优先照顾谁了",因为行人和司机谁也不是动物,都是"人本"之列的,如果一定要按吴先生的"倾向性"来制定法规,那么司机这部分人的利益谁来保护?民主法制的国家制定的法律和法规要充分地体现出它的公正性。

Modified method for extraction of watershed boundary with digital elevation modeling

Boundary extraction of watershed is an important step in forest landscape research. The boundary of the upriver wa-tershed of the Hunhe River in the sub-alpine Qingyuan County of eastern Liaoning Province, China was extracted by digital elevation modeling (DEM) data in ArcInfo8.1. Remote sensing image of the corresponding region was applied to help modify its copy according to Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) image抯 profuse geomorphological structure information. Both the DEM-dependent boundary and modified copy were overlapped with county map and drainage network map to visually check the effects of result. Overlap of county map suggested a nice extraction of the boundary line since the two layers matched precisely, which indicated the DEM-dependent boundary by program was effective and precise. Further upload of drainage network showed discrepancies between the boundary and the drainage network. Altogether, there were three sections of the extraction result that needed to correct. Compared with this extraction boundary, the modified boundary had a better match to the drainage network as well as to the county map. Comprehensive analysis demonstrated that the program extraction has generally fine precision in position and excels the digitized result by hand. The errors of the DEM-dependant extraction are due to the fact that it is difficult for program to recognize sections of complex landform especially altered by human activities, but these errors are discernable and adjustable because the spatial resolution of ETM image is less than that of DEM. This study result proved that application of remote sensing information could help obtain better result when DEM method is used in extraction of watershed boundary.

Estimation of wear performance of AZ91 alloy under dry sliding conditions using machine learning methods

The wear behavior of AZ91 alloy was investigated by considering different parameters,such as load(10−50 N),sliding speed(160−220 mm/s)and sliding distance(250−1000 m).It was found that wear volume loss increased as load increased for all sliding distances and some sliding speeds.For sliding speed of 220 mm/s and sliding distance of 1000 m,the wear volume losses under loads of 10,20,30,40 and 50 N were calculated to be 15.0,19.0,24.3,33.9 and 37.4 mm3,respectively.Worn surfaces show that abrasion and oxidation were present at a load of 10 N,which changes into delamination at a load of 50 N.ANOVA results show that the contributions of load,sliding distance and sliding speed were 12.99%,83.04%and 3.97%,respectively.The artificial neural networks(ANN),support vector regressor(SVR)and random forest(RF)methods were applied for the prediction of wear volume loss of AZ91 alloy.The correlation coefficient(R2)values of SVR,RF and ANN for the test were 0.9245,0.9800 and 0.9845,respectively.Thus,the ANN model has promising results for the prediction of wear performance of AZ91 alloy.

A Metabolomics Study of the Volatile Oil from Prunella vulgaris L.on Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Objective Pelvic inflammatory disease(PID)is one of the most common gynaecological diseases.Here,this thesis aims to investigate the therapeutic effects of Prunella vulgaris L.oil on the PID by using metabolomics based on gas chromatographymass spectrometry(GC-MS)to address this challenge.Methods First,measurements of pro-inflammatory cytokines and histological analysis of the uterus were conducted to validate the successful generation of a PID rat model.Furthermore,the volatile oil from Prunella vulgaris L.was administered to treat PID rats.Serum samples were collected before and after treatment and analyzed by GC-MS to generate metabolite profiles for each sample.The information generated from the qualitative and quantitative analysis of these metabolites was applied to distinguish between the PID model and normal control groups.Results Some metabolites,such as acetic acid,succinic acid,glyceric acid,(R*,S*)-3,4-dihydroxybutanoic acid,3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid,D-ribose and myo-inositol showed a higher contribution in the classification model;thus,they can be considered as potential biomarkers.Furthermore,the therapeutic effect of the volatile oil extracted from Prunella vulgaris L.could also be visualized using GC-MS-based metabolomics.Conclusions The results show that metabolomics studies are invaluable for disease diagnosis and therapeutic effect estimation.

Housing pattern and food habit of the Mro-tribe community in Bang-ladesh: A forest dependence perspective

An exploratory study was conducted on the housing pattern and food habit of the Mro tribe in Bandarban region, Bangladesh, highlighting their indigenous knowledge. The study was carried out with respect to three income groups. A total of 36 households (12 from each income groups) were assessed using different participatory appraisals through semi-structured questionnaires. A special type of indigenous knowledge on housing pattern and food habit was explored in the Mro community, which correspond to the severe dependence on forest resources.

Recognition of newspaper printed in Gurumukhi script

In this work,a system for recognition of newspaper printed in Gurumukhi script is presented.Four feature extraction techniques,namely,zoning features,diagonal features,parabola curve fitting based features,and power curve fitting based features are considered for extracting the statistical properties of the characters printed in the newspaper.Different combinations of these features are also applied to improve the recognition accuracy.For recognition,four classification techniques,namely,k-NN,linear-SVM,decision tree,and random forest are used.A database for the experiments is collected from three major Gurumukhi script newspapers which are Ajit,Jagbani and Punjabi Tribune.Using 5-fold cross validation and random forest classifier,a recognition accuracy of 96.19%with a combination of zoning features,diagonal features and parabola curve fitting based features has been reported.A recognition accuracy of 95.21%with a partitioning strategy of data set(70%data as training data and remaining 30%data as testing data)has been achieved.

Organic carbon storage in trees within different Geopositions of Chittagong （South） forest division, Bangladesh

The organic carbon storage in trees and organic carbon flow with geoposition of trees was estimated in the forest area of Chittagong （South） Forest Division within geo-position 91°47′ and 92°15′ East longitude and 21°45′ and 22°30′ North latitude. The study was conducted through stratified random sampling by identifying each sampling point through Global Positioning System （GPS）. It was found that above ground organic carbon storage （t/hm^2）, below ground organic carbon （t/hm^2） and total biomass organic carbon （t/hm^2） was respectively the highest in Dipterocarpus turbinatus （Garjan） （7.9, 1.18 and 9.08 t/hm^2） followed by Tectona grandis （Teak） （5.66, 0.85 and 6.51 t/hm^2）, Artocarpus chaplasha （Chapalish） （2.32, 0.34 and 2.66 t/hm^2）, Artocarpus lacucha （Batta） （1.97, 0.29 and 2.26 t/hm^2） and Artocarpus heterophyllus （Jackfruit） （1.7,0.25 and 2.26 t/hm^2）. From the study it was revealed that organic carbon stock was the highest （142.7 t/hm^2） in the geo-position 22° Latitude and 92° Longitude and was the lowest （4.42 t/hm^2） in the geo-position 21° 50′ Latitude and 92° 2.5′ Longitude. The forest of the study area is a good reservoir of organic carbon so has a good capacity to sequester organic carbon from the atmosphere. Sustainable forest management may help to sequester more organic carbon so that economic benefit for the country and environmental benefit in the international arena are possible from the study area.

Comparison of Soil Nitrogen Availability Indices under Two Temperate Forest Types

To evaluate the validity of different indices in estimating soil readily mineralizable N, soil microbial biomass （Nmic）, soil active N （SAN）, soluble organic N （SON）, net N mineralization rate （NNR） and gross N mineralization rate （GNR） in mineral soils （0-10 cm） from six forest stands located in central Germany were determined and compared with two sampling times： April and November. Additionally, soil density fractionation was conducted for incubated soils （with addition of ^15NH4-N and glucose, 40 days） to observe the sink of added ^15N in different soil fractions. The study showed that Nmic and NNR in most stands differed significantly （P 〈 0.05） between the two sampling times, but not GNR, SAN and SON. In November, no close relationships were found between GNR and other N indices, or between Nrnic, SON, and SAN and forest type. However, in April, GNR was significantly correlated （P 〈 0.05） with Nmic, SAN, and NNR along with Nmlc under beech being significantly higher （P 〈 0.05） than under conifers. Furthermore, density fractionation revealed that the light fraction （LF, 0.063-2 mm, 〉 1.7 gcm^-3） was not correlated with the other N indices. In contrast, results from the incubation study proved that more 15N was incorporated into the heavy fraction （HF 〈 0.063 ram, 〉 1.7 g cm^-3） than into LF, indicaing that more labile N existed in HF than in LF. These findings suggested that attention should be paid to the differences existing in N status between agricultural and forest soils.

The Court and Forest Circle in As You Like It

The setting of As You Like It follows a circle. The main characters left the court and went to the forest in which they got transformed, and then came back to the court that is not exactly the same one as the original.

Rate of timber production in a tropical rainforest ecosystem of Southwestern Nigeria and its implications on sustainable forest management

Timber harvesting data are very essential for sustainable management of forest resources.These data are very scarce in developing countries.Therefore,we collected and analyzed data on the rate of timber production of the free areas and the forest reserves in Ondo State,Nigeria.The data collected from the State Department of Forestry＇s official records,annual reports and files were on the species,volume and number of different economic timbers exploited on monthly basis between 2003 and 2005.Analyses were done with the student t-test and one-way analysis of variance.Results reveal that the highest numbers of species,families and stems were exploited in the free areas when compared with what was exploited from the reserves for the three-year period.However,the total volume of trees removed from the reserves was significantly higher（p〈0.05） than what was removed from the free areas.A total 60 different indigenous hardwood species in 25 families were exploited from the free areas,and 57 in 23 families from the reserves.The total number of stems exploited from the forest ecosystem of Ondo state during the three-year period stood at 111377 with an estimated volume of 295089.67 m^3.While the mean number of stems and volume exploited per annum is 37125 and 98363.22 m^3,respectively.The monthly average number of stems and volume is 3094 and 8196 m^3,respectively.The t-test results show that there were significant differences（p〈0.05） in number of stems and volume removed from the free areas and the reserves.The ANOVA results reveal a significant increase（p〈0.05） in logging activities between the years of 2003 and 2004 but there was a decline in year 2005.This trend reveals that economic timber species were disappearing from the forests and the ecosystem was seriously disturbed during logging activities.Principles for achieving the goals of sustainable forest management（SFM） and urgent conservation measures to mitigate the consequences of forest degradation were suggested.

Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of Camptotheca acuminata

UGPase gene related with wood cellulose synthesis was transferred into C. acuminata using the method of Agrobacte- rium-mediated genetic transformation, and an efficient transformation system was developed for C. acuminata on the basis of evaluations of several factors affecting Agrobacterium-mediated DNA transfer rate. The highest transformation rate was achieved when pre-cultttred leaf explants were infected with an Agrobacterium culture corresponding to OD600 （0.5） for 10 min, and cultured on explant regeneration medium for three days. The results of Southern hybridization showed that genomic DNA of the kanamycin-resistant shoots to an UGPase gene probe substantiated the integration of the transgene. Transformation efficiency （6%） was achieved under the optimized transformation procedure, This system should facilitate the introduction of important useful genes into C, acuminata.

The Potential Impacts of National, Regional and International Policies and Legislation on the Sustainable Forest Management for NTFPs： A Swaziland Case Study

The objective of this study entails the review and assessment of the relevance of existing and draft policies and legislation that affects the Non-timber Forest Products （NTFP） sector in Swaziland. A hierarchical method of policy and legislation review and analysis was devised for this study. Findings indicated that most national policies and legislation are outdated and old-fashioned, with gaps and overlaps, and there is lack of collaboration between institutions implementing these. The present national forest policy does not adequately guide the development of NTFPs. As a consequence, whilst international policies and legislation capture an excellent spectrum of elements and issues on NTFPs they still remain difficult to implement. However, national level criteria and indicators have issues and elements that are relevant to the sustainable use of NTFPs. It was recommended that national strategies, action plans, policies and legislation be reviewed and updated. The study shows that there are no existing institutional networks or formal collaboration between the institutions involved in the implementation of local, national, regional, and international policies and legislation that affect NTFPs. Government, private sector, Non-Governmental Organizations （NGO＇s）, communities, individuals, and all concerned agencies should jointly develop and implement policies and legislation to provide secure access and benefits to people whose livelihood depends on/is supplemented by NTFPs and further foster networking and collaboration. The immediate adoption and implementation of the 11 policy recommendations on the sustainable management of Non-timber Forest Resources compiled by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity （CBD） from the Convention on Biological Diversity is highly recommended. It is worthwhile to note that while some of the 11 recommendations were directly inherited from certain articles of the CBD some are general recommendations.

Small-area estimation of forest stand structure in Jalisco, Mexico

Natural resource statistics are often unavailable for small ecological or economic regions and policymakers have to rely on state-level datasets to evaluate the status of their resources （i.e., forests, rangelands, grasslands, agriculture, etc.） at the regional or local level. These resources can be evaluated using small-area estimation techniques. However, it is unknown which small area technique produces the most valid and precise results. The reliability and accuracy of two methods, synthetic and regression estimators, used in smallarea analyses, were examined in this study. The two small-area analysis methods were applied to data from Jalisco＇s state-wide natural resource inventory to examine how well each technique predicted selected characteristics of forest stand structure. The regression method produced the most valid and precise estimates of forest stand characteristics at multiple geographical scales. Therefore, state and local resource managers should utilize the regression method unless appropriate auxiliary information is not available.

Comparison of Interpolation Methods for the Study of Forest Variables Using a Geographic Information System

Interpolation methods in ArcGIS_ESRI Geostatistical Analyst tool allow obtaining unknown values at unsampled points from observed data and generating continuous surfaces. In this paper, forest data variables as tree height and diameter measured in two plots in Central Mountains in Spain. These data were georeferenced to obtain maps that can visualize the spatial variability of these forest variables. In order to evaluate the best interpolation method that could adequately explain the spatial variability of those variables, two interpolation methods were studied： inverse results was made by means of statistical methods to analyze distance weighted （IDW） and Ordinary Kriging （OK）. A comparison of residuals. Results with the kriging method were slightly better.

A MODIS Time Series Data Based Algorithm for Mapping Forest Fire Burned Area

Burned area mapping is an essential step in the forest fire research to investigate the relationship between forest fire and cli- mate change and the effect of forest fire on carbon budgets. This study proposed an algorithm to map forest fire burned area using the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiameter （MODIS） time series data in Heilongjiang Province, China. The algorithm is divided into two steps： Firstly, the ＇core＇ pixels were extracted to represent the most possible burned pixels based on the comparison of the tem- poral change of Global Environmental Monitoring Index （GEMI）, Burned Area Index （BAI） and MODIS active fire products between pre- and post-fires. Secondly, a 15-km distance was set to extract the entire burned areas near the ＇core＇ pixels as more relaxed conditions were used to identify the fire pixels for reducing the omission error as much as possible. The algorithm comprehensively considered the thermal characteristics and the spectral change between pre- and post-fires, which are represented by the MODIS fire products and the spectral index, respectively. Tahe, Mohe and Huma counties of Heilongjiang Province, China were chosen as the study area for burned area mapping and a time series of burned maps were produced from 2000 to 2011. The results show that the algorithm can extract burned areas more accurately with the hiehest accuracy of 96.61%.

Serpentine Design on Forest Roads by the Internal Circular Curve Method： A Case Study in Serbia

The paper provides an overview of geometric solutions of marking all types of serpentine by the method of internal circular curve in designing forest roads directly in the field. The main objective of presenting this original method for marking all serpentine types in one place is to show similarities and differences in marking different types of serpentine, and identify opportunities for further research of this type. The method is based on the establishment of the minimum number of elements necessary to mark the serpentine on the forest roads and other budget elements and their design in the field. By using this method, construction errors or the number of attempts of serpentine marking are reduced, which increases the effects of design compared to the ones reached by the previous method of marking the serpentine on forest roads.