Search results for "CHINA"

The Sacred Fire

2012

The fire on Mount Parnassus that gave rise to the temple of the Oracle of Delphi was not the only spontaneous outflow of natural gas known to the Ancient World. People in ancient India, Persia and China knew about these fen fires, and there they also used to attribute them to supernatural causes, at least until 500 BC, when the Chinese built the first gas pipelines––using bamboo!––many centuries ahead of the West, as on many other occasions.

Bien Gloria. Baudelaire in China: A Study in Literary Reception

2014

Recensione del volume di Gloria Bien e sul suo approccio all'influenza di Baudelaire nella poesia cinese del XX secolo.

The Impact of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme on Township Hospitals' Utilization and Income Structure in Weifang Prefecture, China

2017

The New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme was gradually introduced from 2003 in China. This paper is based on a representative survey of 24 randomly selected township hospitals in Weifang prefecture over the period 2000-2008. Using a generalized form of differences-in-differences model, it aims to assess the effect of the reform on the utilization and income structure of the township hospitals. The estimations provide three main results linked to the effects of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme on the behavior of the key stakeholders (households, health care providers and Health Bureau). Firstly, the reform had positive impacts on the utilization of township hospitals, particularly on…

Endophytes from medicinal plants’ seeds: exploring new reservoirs of bioactive molecules

Plant-associated microorganisms have recently gained more attention for their influence on plant health and biotechnological relevance. Bioactive molecules have been already isolated from plant-associated bacteria. Seed-borne bacterial endophytes have not been much explored though. Such endophytes are particularly important, since they can influence germination and be transmitted from generation to generation. Interestingly, seed endophytes from medicinal plants could influence the production of molecules with therapeutic properties. Bacterial endophytic strains were extracted from surface-sterilized seeds of the medicinal plant Echinacea purpurea and their 16S rRNA genes were sequenced. Th…

Inclusive Search for Standard Model Higgs Boson Production in the WW Decay Channel using the CDF II Detector

2010

We present a search for standard model (SM) Higgs boson production using p (p) over bar collision data at root s = 1. 96 TeV, collected with the CDF II detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4. 8 fb(-1). We search for Higgs bosons produced in all processes with a significant production rate and decaying to two W bosons. We find no evidence for SM Higgs boson production and place upper limits at the 95% confidence level on the SM production cross section (sigma(H)) for values of the Higgs boson mass (m(H)) in the range from 110 to 200 GeV. These limits are the most stringent for m(H) > 130 GeV and are 1.29 above the predicted value of sigma(H) for m(H) 165 GeV.

Carbon sequestration potential and soil characteristics of various land use systems in arid region

2019

Abstract Soils contain one of the largest carbon (C) pools in the biosphere with the greatest potential of C sequestration to mitigate climate change impacts. The present study aimed at comparing C sequestration potential of various land use systems including forestlands, croplands, agroforests, and orchards in the arid region of Pakistan. Soil samples from the layers of 0–20, 20–40, 40–60, and 60–80 cm depths were collected and analysed for soil physico-chemical properties namely texture, pH, EC, NPK-soil, organic matter (SOM), and soil organic C (SOC). Additionally, the above and below ground plant biomass and C contents were estimated. Results revealed that the highest C sequestration po…

MakingCarexmonophyletic (Cyperaceae, tribe Cariceae): a new broader circumscription

2015

We are grateful to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for funding of the Biodiversity Synthesis Group of the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) project, which funded our BioSynC Synthesis meeting at the Field Museum in Chicago in September 2011, when the Global Carex Group was formed. We also thank the US National Science Foundation (NSF) for funding our continuing international collaborative work on the phylogeny and classification of Carex under grants DEB 1255901 to ALH and MJW, and DEB 1256033 to EHR. We also acknowledge with thanks funding for nomenclatural research and for attendance at our second meeting during the Monocots V conference in New York in July, 2013, from the Natu…

Meta-analysis of the correlation between serum uric acid level and carotid intima-media thickness

2021

Objective Recently, increasing epidemiological evidence has shown that there is a correlation between serum uric acid level (SUA) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). This paper explored the relationship between them through meta-analysis. Methods PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched to obtain literature. The keywords used to retrieve the literature were carotid intima thickness, intima-media thickness, carotid atherosclerosis, carotid stenosis, carotid artery, uric acid, blood uric acid, and hyperuricaemia. The retrieval time was from the establishment of the database through July 2020. Stata15.0 and RevMan5.3 software were used for stati…

Macchina del fango e demonizzazione dell’avversario. Sulla nozione di diabole nella retorica greca.

2014

The topic of this paper is the rhetorical notion of diabole: a charge that attempts to cast the opponent in a negative light in order to create a negative prejudice in the audience. It is a rhetorical strategy similar to what is currently called a “character assassination” (in Italian “macchina del fango”), a strategy aimed at discrediting and vilifying the adversary using any means. Therefore, it is a phenomenon that involves the important question concerning the role of ethos in the persuasive process. The paper focuses on a particularly insidious aspect of diabole: its use as a form of counterattack. This means that diabole can be dangerous not only when it is used to discredit or vilify…

Insights into the evolutionary history of the subfamily orthotrichoideae (Orthotrichaceae, Bryophyta): new and former supra-specific taxa so far obsc…

2021

Mosses of the subfamily Orthotrichoideae represent one of the main components of the cryptogam epiphytic communities in temperate areas. During the last two decades, this taxonomical group has undergone an extensive revision that has led to its rearrangement at the generic level. However, their phylogenetic relationships and inferences on the evolutionary patterns that have driven the present diversity have little advanced. In this study, we present a dated molecular phylogenetic reconstruction at the subfamily level, including 130 samples that represent the 12 genera currently recognized within the subfamily, and the analysis of four molecular markers: ITS2, rps4, trnG, and trnL-F. We also…